Dark Lord Potter
by loverofeevee
Summary: What would have happened if Harry discovered he had magic from an early age, and used it to live his life the way he wanted? Slash, eventual harem of both genders, manipulative/bad Dumbledore.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter was not a normal little boy. If someone from the neighbourhood was asked to describe the black haired, green eyed child they'd probably do it in one word.

Quiet.

Harry Potter was always so quiet. But it wasn't shy quiet or scared quiet. No, Harry was calculating quiet and examining quiet. Those vivid eyes of his seemed to look right into your soul.

So why was Harry so quiet? Why wasn't he screaming and shouting and asking question after question like the other children? Simply put, he had no desire to. He learned early on that asking questions was bad. It normally earned him a slap round the head, or a kick or three. Or a full beating, like that time when he was four and he asked why he wasn't allowed presents like Dudley at Christmas.

No Harry was quiet because he realised that if he wanted to find out information, he'd have to do it himself. Adults were not to be trusted. Especially not his relatives. After all who would lock a six year old outside and leave him in the rain for the entire day? Of course that particular incident led to a magnificent discovery for Harry. As he wandered around the neighbourhood, drenched from head to toe, he found the library.

By the time he was seven the children's books became boring. At nine years old most of the grown up books were the same. It seemed like every book Harry touched he absorbed the information like a dry sponge absorbs water. And every bit of information was given a place in his mind. On occasion he imagined his mind as a huge library, extending with each new book he read and protected from others by a variety of puzzles and tricks. He didn't realise that he was actually creating such a library in his head, which after a few years would be all but impossible to get into.

It was during one of these trips to the library, not long after turning seven, that Harry came across some information that greatly interested him. The book was for children, and described the magical acts of special people called witches, wizards and warlocks. This would have interested many a young child, but Harry's interest came from realising that some of the things these fictional people did, he himself had done. Like the story about the warlock who held a grudge with his neighbour and turned her hair into worms. Harry hadn't done that, but his teacher's hair had turned blue at the same time Harry had wished that she would stop yelling at him. And then there was the witch who could hop from one place to another, covering great distances that shouldn't be possible. Harry had done that too, when he wished hard that he could hide from Dudley and his gang, and found himself up on the school roof.

The more Harry thought about it, the more he realised that every time something "freakish" had happened, it was because he had wished hard enough. Eager to prove his theory, Harry looked round to check for anyone watching him, then concentrated hard on a book some other child had left lying by the window. He wished for it to come to him. He pictured the book rising off the table and hovering over. And, as if by magic, the book did just that. Awe struck, Harry reached out and plucked it from the air. He could do magic!

An idea came to him then, one that normal little boys wouldn't dream of thinking about. But Harry Potter wasn't a normal boy. Normal boys don't have a piece of a very dark wizard's soul latched onto their scar. Of course, Harry Potter wasn't a normal wizard either. A normal wizard would never have been able to live with a soul piece in their head. The darkness would have festered and possessed them until they were little more than a husk. Harry's will, and his magic were greater than that. With that simple deliberate act of summoning the book, Harry's magical core was unlocked from the bindings placed on it. It surrounded the parasite, closing in and absorbing the life and magic from it.

This action also caused a beneficial side effect. The wards placed round the Dursley home, ones that the occupants weren't aware of, flashed for a brief moment, before settling. Far away in an old man's office, a few odd little trinkets ceased humming for a moment, then resumed. The wards, specifically the blood ward, had been cast upon the magical signature of Harry James Potter. They would tell the old man where the boy went, what happened in the house, and how healthy the boy was. Harry's magical signature however was no longer the same. The wards could still sense him, but now they were no longer able to tell the old man what was happening within the Dursley home. He would know only that Harry was alive.

No-one noticed afterwards that the strange little scar on Harry's head had vanished. No-one noticed the new and improved Harry Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Harry's Hogwarts letter came, he had the freedom to do what he wished in the house. His cramped little cupboard had been changed to Dudley's second bedroom, which his aunt thoughtfully cleaned from top to bottom and got rid of the old broken toys. His ratty stained clothes were replaced with new ones that fitted him. Some of Dudley's toys had been "generously" given to Harry as well. His eyesight had been sorted and he no longer required glasses. He'd grown his unruly hair out and it now reached a little past his shoulders, tied back with a ribbon. He had as much food as he wanted, while Vernon and Dudley were steadily growing thinner. That's not to say that Harry was getting fat. He jogged every day and delighted in several hobbies that took him outside and gave him something creative to do. Any expenses were helpfully seen to by Vernon. And of course the lumbering man had taken to doing double shifts to help pay the bills. Even Petunia was getting in on it, taking up a couple of shifts at the local supermarket while Harry and Dudley were at school. And Dudley had become such a polite and generous person, never to lift a hand to another child again.

Some years later, when Harry realised he'd placed his relatives under a wandless imperious curse, he would just shrug and go back to learning more magic.

Harry looked over the thick envelope. So his letter had finally arrived. Petunia had been most helpful in telling him all about the magical world, and about his parents. She had even dug out the letter that he'd been left with, all those years back. It became quite clear that this Albus Dumbledore was definitely not one to be trusted.

'Petunia. My letter came through' Harry called as he headed to the kitchen.

She turned from her place at the stove to look at him, her glassy eyes a common sight.

'That's nice dear. Vernon you really should take Harry to get his things'.

'A good idea. I'll do it after breakfast' the not so obese man replied, shuffling his paper with the same glassy eye look.

'You don't need to come in with me. I just need a ride. You can wait in the car' Harry said, reading through his letter.

He received a grunt of agreement. An hour later he was standing in front of the entrance to the unimpressive looking Leaky Cauldron. Shrugging Harry headed inside and straight through to the back. He was in luck as a pair of half drunken wizards had just tapped on the bricks. Harry entered Diagon Alley.

After a short gaze at the scenery, he pushed his way through the crowds and headed for the marble white building his aunt had spoke of. Harry joined the shortest line and waited patiently to be seen.

'What can I do for you?'

'I wish to see my account' Harry replied politely.

The Goblin glanced over his desk.

'And do you have your key?'

'I do not. It was not given to me' Harry replied.

The Goblin scowled at him.

'No key, no entry'.

'That is understandable. However I believe my key is currently residing with the headmaster of Hogwarts. He has not seen fit to come to me to deliver my letter in person thus I have not had the chance to ask him for my key' Harry explained.

The Goblin peered at him.

'Name?'

'Harry James Potter'.

That got a reaction as the Goblin nearly tumbled off his stool.

'We…shall need to test you to ensure you are who you say'.

'I would expect nothing less' Harry replied, and followed the Goblin through the bank and down a hall to a set of doors.

The Goblin knocked on one and gestured for Harry to go through when a call came from inside. Thanking the little creature Harry pushed the ornate doors open and strode in.

'What do you want?' and elderly Goblin snapped.

'I have been told to take a test to ensure you of my identity. After that I require a new key for my account and then I need some money. My name is Harry Potter' Harry replied with a frown.

The Goblin sneered but pulled out a bowl and a knife. He then brought out a potion and poured it in the bowl, placing a quill and some parchment on the table.

'Three drops of blood. Then once the potion has turned blue place the quill in the bowl'.

Nodding Harry picked up the knife and pricked his thumb. He let three drops fall into the bowl and made himself comfy on the provided chair. When the potion changed colour he took the quill and dipped it in.

'The quill will tell us who you truly are' the Goblin said.

Harry watched with interest as the quill sucked up the potion and leapt onto the parchment. It scribbled away for a while then fell still on the table. The Goblin picked up the parchment and read. His eyes went wide and he became very nervous.

'My apologies Mr Potter. We merely needed to be sure. There are plenty of wizards who have tried to trick us'.

'Apology accepted, after all you were just doing your job. Now as to my key?' Harry replied.

'Yes of course' the Goblin said and pressed a button on his desk.

Another Goblin hurried in and words were spoken in a different language before the younger Goblin rushed back out.

'Your new keys will arrive shortly. Is there anything else?' the elder Goblin asked.

'Yes. I'd like a note of any money put in and taken out my account since my parents died' Harry replied.

The Goblin nodded and opened a drawer. He brought out some papers, shuffled them, and handed them over.

'This is a list of any withdrawals and deposits from your accounts from 1981 to now' he explained.

Harry looked through the list. He raised an eyebrow when he realised he had more than one account. A soft smile played on his lips at his mother's name.

The accounts seemed to be in order. He appeared to have a few businesses that over the years had made deposits into the main Potter account. He did discover that his relatives had been paid to care for him, and he hadn't seen a penny of that money until his discovery of magic. However since he'd fixed that problem he saw no reason to demand money back. He did ask that these withdrawals be stopped, which was granted. All in all the Potter family had amassed a huge amount of money, over three billion galleons in total, whatever a galleon was. He asked, and was given a run down of wizarding money. There was also Potter Manor, Godric's Hollow where his parents were killed, and an entire island in the tropics.

With that lovely surprise over, he was given his new keys and told the old ones would be made redundant. Harry found it odd that the Goblins were practically bending over backwards to accommodate to a child. When he asked they explained that because he was the last in his line he was allowed by law to take control of his accounts when he turned eleven. Since that was only a few days away, the Goblins had bent the rules a little to give him the privilege now. He would be able to claim the Potter head of house ring, and emancipation, when he turned fifteen. Harry had smirked at that. They may have been rude at first, but the Goblins were growing on him.

He decided to make a few changes to his accounts. The idea that he had to care for four vaults was not appealing to Harry, so he asked for all to be combined into the main family vault. He handed back three of the keys and entered his vault. He had to steady himself on the nearest wall. Reading about the money was one thing, but seeing it was another matter entirely. After he got over his shock he frowned. How was one supposed to find anything with all this mess? He called out to the waiting Goblin that if he were to help tidy up the vault, Harry would reward him with a large bonus. The Goblin jumped at the chance and was soon explaining what all the trinkets did and what would be the best way to sort the mass of treasure. He also explained that after the attack on Harry's parents, all the assets of Godric's Hollow had been transported to the vault for safety. Harry felt his mouth watering when he discovered an entire library worth of books at the back of the vault. He asked if there was a way for him to take every book out without making several trips. The Goblin, Griphook his name was, advised Harry on the wonders of a wizard space trunk. And as luck would have it, Harry had three waiting to be filled. They took a trip inside each and Harry could not help but be impressed by the magical world. One was practically an entire house, complete with unfurnished bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, potion lab, training room, and library. The other two were just huge spaces.

Griphook offered to transport the books, most he explained were self updating, inside the house trunk and Harry watched in awe as the little Goblin levitated each book, brought it in and placed it in a space. After that everything else joined them. It took Griphook a couple of hours, but eventually the vault held nothing but money and loose jewels, neatly packed into the two remaining trunks. Even the furniture had a place in the house trunk. It made the vault look empty, but Harry knew the true value that lay hidden within it.

Harry was almost giddy with excitement, he couldn't wait to curl up and dive into the fountain of information he'd received. As agreed he asked Griphook for a pouch and filled it with three thousand galleons. The Goblin's eyes went wide and he bowed deeply before offering Harry a bottomless pouch and a special card he could use in the non magical world.

OOO

Harry left the bank feeling happier than he had in years, his shrunken down trunk strapped to his belt. The little smirk of satisfaction remained on his lips when he entered the bookstore. He didn't bother with looking round and went straight to the counter.

'Excuse me, I'd like to know if there is a spell you can use to see what books I don't have in your shop. I have a book here listing every title I own' he asked.

The clerk looked impressed at the heavy book.

'I have just the spell. It will list any book you don't have on this here parchment'.

He asked Harry to sit the book on the counter, then fetched his own book of titles. He waved his wand over both. Harry listened carefully as the man muttered the spell, storing it away in his mind for later use. He watched the books glow before the parchment started to list out titles. He gave a tiny smirk when the books stopped glowing after just fifteen titles appeared.

'Some of these are quite rare. It'll be expensive' the man warned.

'Money is of no issue' Harry replied.

The man waved his wand again and the books flew to the counter. Harry paid, placed them in his trunk and left to find the shop that sold potion ingredients. He bought a dozen of each ingredient, several cauldrons and other potion accessories. He then paid a small fortune at Madam Malkin's, and splashed out on a top of the range broom and supplies at the quidditch shop. After that Harry decided to buy an animal companion. Magical Menagerie's selection was interesting enough but it wasn't until Harry reached the far corner that he found the perfect animal. A magical Red-bellied black snake, roughly four foot long, was angrily hissing at everyone who passed.

'_Stupid humans, keeping me captured like a common grass snake. I am no-one's pet! Just try to put your hand in with me and I'll show you how wild I am!'_

'_You are indeed wild' _Harry replied with some amusement.

The snake looked at him with interest.

'_You are a speaker? I have not met with a speaker before'._

'_Then I am privileged to be the first for such a magnificent creature'_ Harry responded.

He'd learned from speaking to a grass snake in the garden that snakes are quite the vain little creatures, and that a little flattery goes a long way. This snake was no different, and raised its head proudly.

'_I like you speaker. What do they call you?'_

'_I am known as Harry. Have you a name?' _Harry replied.

'_A name? I have not been given a name' _the snake said.

'_Then will you allow me the honour of bestowing one upon you?' _Harry asked.

The snake agreed and Harry examined it.

'_You are as dark as the night sky. And yet your stomach shimmers with a deep red. You remind me of the dusk, just before the colour has been washed from the sky. I believe Dusk would make a perfect name for you' _He said after a moment.

'_Dusk? Yes, I like it. I shall be referred to as Dusk from here on' _The snake replied.

Harry gave a little smirk and nodded.

'_A fine name for a fine snake. I find myself yearning for your company. Would you like to become my partner? It would mean freedom from a cage?' _he asked.

Dusk bobbed his head eagerly.

'_That would please me greatly!'_

Chuckling slightly Harry opened the tank and let Dusk slither up his arm.

'_I shall soon be travelling to a place where there are many humans. I ask that you do not attack them'._

'_I will not, though I shall scare them away if they try to attack me' _Dusk replied.

'_That is fair' _Harry replied as he headed to the counter, and the astounded clerk behind it.

OOO

Harry finally entered Ollivander's for his wand. It was a good three hours later when he left, a custom made ivy wand with a black unicorn hair core hiding away in a holster on his arm. Mr Ollivander seemed to get more and more excited when the wands failed to respond to Harry. He looked ready to wet himself with glee when a holly with a Phoenix feather one exploded the second Harry touched it. Bemused Harry found himself herded into the back room and watched with fascination as the man created a wand from scratch.

Harry paused at a dingy looking alley. The sign read Knockturn Alley. It certainly didn't look like a place a little boy should be going into. But then Harry wasn't a normal little boy, so with a shrug he headed in. Most of the shops held no interest to him. One called Borgin and Burkes though had some books in the grimy display window, so he entered. The grizzly old man behind the counter sneered at him.

'Yer in the wrong place kid! Unless yer trying to get killed!' he growled.

'Is that so? I suppose you don't need me as a customer then?' Harry asked casually.

The man snarled and drew his wand, but stopped when an icy wind started blowing round his shop. He stared in shock as the boy's eyes glowed dangerously and shivered as the wind seemed to claw up his spine. And if that wasn't bad enough, the inky black venomous snake coiled round the kid's shoulders was hissing furiously at him.

'Heh…always glad to have customers. Tell you what kid, you got yer wand? I'll take the trace off it, free of charge for my behaviour' he said nervously.

The wind died down and Harry raised an eyebrow.

'Trace?'

'Yeah. All kids have a trace on their wand until they hit seventeen' the man explained.

Harry stared at the man who was starting to sweat.

'Very well then' Harry eventually said and drew his wand.

The man grinned nervously as he placed it on the counter. Taking his own wand he touched the tips together and cast the spell. Harry listened and stored the words away as his wand glowed for a moment.

'There ye are kid. The ministry won't know a thing'.

Taking his wand back Harry peered at the man.

'How do I know you're telling the truth?'

The man started wringing his hands together. Like he'd really try to fob this kid off after that display of power. He raised his wand above his head.

'I Caractacus Burke do hereby swear on my magic that I took the trace off this wand!'

He tapped his head and his wand flashed. He cast a lumos charm to prove his declaration. Harry had never heard a magical oath before. However he realised the importance of one, and that the man casting the spell after making the oath meant that he was telling the truth.

'Thank you. Now I'd like to check if you will for any books in your store that I don't have' he said.

The man nodded and brought out his book list and some parchment. Harry placed his own next to it and cast his first spell with his new wand. It worked like a charm, and this time much more titles appeared on the parchment.

'If you wouldn't mind collecting these books. Money is of no issue' Harry requested.

'You sure? I mean I'm all for selling to powerful customers such as yourself, but some of these books are dangerous?' the man asked.

'Collect them for me and I shall see which ones I wish to buy' Harry said and the man scurried off.

'_Quite the skitterish human, isn't he?' _Dusk remarked.

Chuckling quietly Harry shushed him as the man returned levitating with him a large bundle of books. This was Harry's first experience with dark magic, and he rather liked the feel of it. Acting on instinct he tapped each book with his wand and concentrated on his magic. The man looked on stunned as the curses surrounding some of the books were broken easily. Harry finished and smirked at the man.

'I'd like them all. I would also like to look round the store, if you wouldn't mind holding the books for me'.

Speechless the man nodded and watched as Harry wondered off to browse. The kid hadn't even broken a sweat! And that was seriously dark magic on those books.

Harry only found one other thing of interest in the shop. A gnarled and clawed hand fixed upon a small marble stand. The sign called it the hand of glory. He asked what it did and the man explained that when a candle is placed in the hand, it gives light only to the person holding it. Harry found it intriguing so asked to buy it along with the books. He left the stunned man and headed back to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Many people gave him a wide berth due to Dusk, but he paid them no mind and left the alley to find Vernon.

It occurred to Harry after reading a few of the books that many magical folk would probably think him a dark wizard due to his interests. This didn't really bother Harry, but it did make him think. Every dark witch or wizard he'd read about always had followers. Some joined out of respect, others were bullied into it making them little more than slaves. Harry could class his relatives in the slave category. Followers though would be difficult. Most who wanted to join him would only do so for the power and influence that being friends with Harry Potter would bring. He didn't need people like that. He stumbled across a solution after reading a book about a wizard who had consorts. These people were allowed their own opinions but really they weren't expected to do anything but please their master. This would work out fine with Harry. The sex part would come later, if at all. He was still young enough to think of sex as gross.

OOO

Harry sat watching the people dashing around the platform and adults fussing over children. After he got back home he realised he probably should reply to the letter. As luck would have it the owl who delivered it was still hanging around. Harry quickly wrote a reply of acceptance and offered it to the owl, who took it and left. Not long afterwards he received a visit from a great hulk of a man called Hagrid. The giant man seemed overjoyed to see Harry, and took him straight back to Diagon Alley for supplies, even though Harry had mentioned several times that he already had everything he needed. However the trip was pleasant enough and since he had the money he didn't worry too much about getting a second set of robes and whatnot. He did draw the line at having duplicate books, but as Hagrid wasn't actually in the shop with him he was able to fool the man. He was a little curious about the mysterious trip to vault 713 to get a tiny package. Hagrid's secrecy about the item deepened the mystery, but it didn't take long for Harry to get the man to drop enough hints. A stone said to turn metals into gold, and gave those who used it immortality. By luck Harry had read enough to know what the package was, and with the mystery solved he dropped the subject and didn't bother wondering why Nicolas Flamel's philosopher's stone was going to Hogwarts. He figured it was a research project or something.

When it came to Ollivander's Hagrid had thankfully left Harry to it, saying he had something he needed to pick up. Harry waited until the man was out of sight, before ducking into the junk shop next door. He hadn't bothered with this one before, but he figured he could kill time. He did buy up all of the broken wands for potion ingredients, and found a few other useful looking nick knacks. With his purchases in his trunk he left to wait for Hagrid. The man returned a few minutes later holding a rather pretty snowy white owl in a cage. His declaration that she was Harry's birthday gift was, if anything else, a nice surprise.

With his shopping done for a second time, Harry was able to get Hagrid to tell him how to get onto the platform for the Hogwarts Express. So now he was sitting, on the lookout for potential consorts. At the moment he was looking at appearance. Personality would come later when he was at school. He'd decided that he shouldn't limit himself to just females, or to those his own age. His eye fell upon a tall blonde wearing robes with a yellow trim. He was pleasing enough to the eye. A bit sparkly, but pleasing. A brunette caught Harry's eye, wearing robes with a red trim. He was pretty good looking as well, seemed the kind of guy who played sports for fun. Harry attention was drawn to the female population. A pretty looking red head and a blonde were talking together. A pair of foreign looking twins, closely followed by a dark blonde hair girl. Yet another blonde getting on the train with a brunette. A Chinese looking girl with blue trimmed robes. A head of bushy brown hair hauling her trunk onto the train. A bit bucked toothed, but Harry believed she would be quite a pretty girl when she got older. They all seemed nice enough. However Harry had just noticed a family of red heads coming through the barrier. The girl was ok, the tallest boy a little snobbish looking, the smallest somewhat gangly in appearance. It was the pair of twins that really took Harry's interest. His first potential consorts. Harry settled back on the seat with a smirk.

'_You look happy' _Dusk remarked.

'_I am on the hunt for consorts, and have just found a pair of twins'._

'_I once had a full nest of mates as my own. They were at my beck and call, desperate for me to mate with them!' _Dusk boasted.

Harry chuckled. He and Dusk had spoken at length about plans for the future. Dusk was pleased that Harry chose to follow his own path. He liked the sound of Dark Lord Potter. Harry admitted he quite preferred the title as well.

'_At the moment I wish for them to be my underlings. Mating will perhaps come later in life' _Harry replied.

Dusk gave a hissing laugh.

'_You will not think mating so bad when you are older. You are powerful, you will need more than two consorts to keep you occupied'._

'_I am still looking. There are others I have seen that are pleasant looking' _Harry replied.

The compartment shuddered slightly as the train pulled from the station. As Dusk curled up under the seat for a nap, Harry dug out a book. Hedwig his owl had been let out to fly to Hogwarts. She and Dusk had come to an agreement. Keep out of each other's way and there will be no bloodshed.

Harry had just started reading when the door slid open. He glanced up to find the gangly red head from the large family.

'Are you Harry Potter? I'm looking for him!'

Harry examined the boy. This was a typical example of someone who wanted to be friends with Harry because he was famous. He wasn't very subtle either. The boy's eyes kept darting up to look for a scar.

'As it happens I am Harry Potter. And that scar that you are looking for faded a long time ago'.

'Wicked! I'm Ronald Weasley. You can just call me Ron. It's brilliant that you're in my year! So how come the scar faded? Can you remember what happened that night…?'

Harry became more and more annoyed as the red head blabbered on about quidditch and Gryffindor and how Harry was famous. Finally Harry had to interrupt.

'I am famous because my parents sacrificed their lives to save mine. _I'm_ famous for something _they_ did. The only memories I have of my parents is my mother screaming for this Voldemort character to spare me and take her instead'.

Ron's eyes went wide.

'You said his name!'

'And there's a problem with that?' Harry asked flatly.

'Well yeah. No-one ever says his name except Albus Dumbledore' Ron replied.

'Yippee for him' Harry muttered, turning back to his book.

'But he tried to kill you!' Ron exclaimed.

'Hmmm…' Harry hummed in reply, not bothering to glance up.

Ron huffed at that and slumped against his seat.

'Typical you'd turn out to be a snob' he muttered.

Harry snorted.

'Perhaps if you wanted to get to know me as Harry rather than the famous Harry Potter, I'd be more inclined to chat' he said with a smirk.

Ron growled and went to speak, when he suddenly jumped back with a yelp. Harry glanced down.

'_Awake are you?'_

'_That human disturbed my sleep! Send him away!' _Dusk hissed angrily.

'Y…you're a parseltongue! But only dark wizards speak to snakes!' Ron stuttered.

'That's nice' Harry replied absently, stroking Dusk's head.

'_I smell rat! That human has a rat!' _Dusk hissed with interest.

Harry looked up at Ron.

'You wouldn't happen to have a rat with you? Dusk here is quite partial to rats'.

Ron grabbed his pocket with a yelp and sprung for the door. Harry smirked as the red head slammed the door shut behind him and fled down the train.

'_Does that mean no rat?' _Dusk asked sadly.

Harry snorted and settled back to finish his book.

'_Sorry Dusk. Perhaps once we get to Hogwarts'._

The snake hissed dejectedly and curled back up. Harry managed a few pages before the door opened again. It was just the woman with the sweet cart, and Harry bought a couple of chocolate frogs to tide him over. He sighed when the door opened for a third time. This time it was the bushy haired girl.

'Excuse me, have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one'.

Harry closed his book and stood.

'No, but I do know a spell that can help find it'.

He pulled out his wand and leaned out the compartment, casting the summoning spell. There was a squeal from a compartment further down and the toad flew out the door and landed on Harry's hand.

'Here you are. I'd recommend asking this boy to keep a better hold on his familiar. It wouldn't do for it to get hurt'.

The girl was staring at him wide eyed.

'How did you do that spell?! That's not on the list of first year spells!'

'I had a lot of time on my hands and obtained many books for the higher years. That spell was easy enough to learn when you had the time to practice the theory' Harry explained with a shrug.

She nodded slowly, seemingly deep in thought. Then she smiled.

'That's great! It's always good to practice ahead. I don't suppose you would mind telling me what book you found it in?'

'Not at all. It was in the standard book of spells grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk' Harry replied.

She thanked him, then gasped.

'I've been very rude asking things of you when I didn't even introduce myself! I'm Hermione Granger, just starting first year'.

He took her offered hand.

'Pleasure to meet you Hermione. I'm Harry Potter'.

'_Thee_ Harry Potter?!' she gasped.

He sighed.

'Please don't say you are one of my fans. I was just beginning to like you'.

She blushed a little.

'Sorry. It's just that you're famous. And I've never met a famous person before' she said quietly.

'I may be famous but that fame came at a price. I would rather have my parents back' Harry replied.

She looked away guiltily.

'I'm sorry. I've read about what happened that night. Your parents were really brave'.

'Yes…yes they were' Harry said quietly to himself.

He shook his head sadly and gave Hermione a soft smile.

'Apology accepted. I should tell you though that only one person was alive to tell the story after that night. And I don't remember anyone asking me what happened'.

'I didn't think about that. Does that mean the books are telling lies?' Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head.

'Not exactly. Voldemort did cast the killing curse at me, and it did backfire. I was taken from the house and hidden away from the wizarding world. That information is general knowledge. It's what the books state happens afterwards that is wrong. It's not always healthy to believe everything you read is true. Things are usually told by the winners and humans are prone to making things up. After all, do you really see me slaying a Dragon when I was five? Or training with the reincarnation of Merlin himself?'

Hermione giggled a bit before looking thoughtful.

'I see your point. Some of the stories are a little farfetched. Sorry Harry, I do tend to believe that whatever I read is the truth, I guess I really should rethink that…'

She seemed to come to a decision.

'All right, I'll crosscheck everything and take what I read with a pinch of salt from now on. I'd better give Neville his toad back. It was nice meeting you Harry. I hope perhaps we could be friends'.

'I'd say we're already friends' Harry replied with a smile.

She gave another blush before leaving the compartment. Harry closed the door and sat back down.

'_Another potential consort?' _Dusk asked.

'_I'd say so'_ Harry replied thoughtfully.


	3. Chapter 3

'Four tae a boat!' Hagrid called.

Harry chose a boat and climbed in. Hermione asked if they could share, but froze upon seeing Dusk.

'He's quite harmless I assure you' Harry soothed.

She nodded nervously and clambered on board. They were joined by a pudgy boy, who looked ready to wet himself when he spotted Dusk.

'T…that's…a…a…' he stuttered.

Harry spotted the toad from earlier peeking from the boy's pocket.

'Are you Neville?' he asked.

The boy nodded slightly.

'There's no need to worry. Dusk here has been warned not to harm any students' Harry assured.

Neville took a step closer, then put a hand protectively over his pocket.

'W…what about T…Trevor?' he asked.

Harry turned to Dusk.

'_You recall the toad from earlier? He is this boy's familiar and not to be eaten'._

'_I have never liked the taste of toad. He is safe' _Dusk replied.

Harry turned back to a wide eyed Neville.

'Trevor will be just fine'.

Neville made to speak when Hagrid called for them to hurry up. With a squeak he clambered into the boat. Hagrid made sure everyone was ready, before calling for the boats to move off.

'Y…you can s…speak to s…snakes?!' Neville stammered.

'Yes, and I'm quite aware that being a parseltongue is suppose to be a sign of a dark wizard. You seem like a nice person though, so I'll hold off casting my black magic over you' Harry joked with a smirk.

Neville stared at him for a moment, then gave a nervous laugh.

'But we haven't made the proper introductions. I'm Harry Potter. Yes _thee _Harry Potter' Harry continued with a slight dramatic sigh at the end.

Neville smiled and offered his hand.

'Neville Longbottom. It's good to meet you Harry, even if your s…snake scares me'.

Harry chuckled and shook the boy's hand.

'Why does talking to snakes make you dark?' Hermione asked curiously.

'It's due to the acts of the people who happen to have the ability. Voldemort for example, and Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin house. Because they both held the same beliefs, and were parselmouths, many people have linked the two. And since both were Slytherin in nature, Slytherin house has earned itself a bad reputation. Anything snake related is a sign of a bad witch or wizard' Harry explained.

'But surely there are rules against that! I mean you speak to snakes and you're not dark. And I bet there are good people in Slytherin house' Hermione exclaimed.

'Now who says I'm not dark?' Harry asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

She rolled her eyes but smiled. Harry inwardly chuckled. Yes Hermione Granger would make a perfect consort. Neville had potential, however the Longbottom family was an old one and soon Neville would become the lord of his house. But he was nice enough, and perhaps would make a good ally.

The boat ride came to an end and Hagrid led the new first years up the steps and into the entrance hall. There they were met by a stern looking woman who introduced herself as professor McGonagall and explained the houses and point system. She eyed Dusk who was coiled round Harry's shoulders.

'I hope that snake will not be a danger to other students?' she asked a little warily.

'No ma'am, he's quite safe' Harry assured her.

She pressed her lips together but nodded and slipped through the doors to prepare for the sorting.

'So it's true then, what they said on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts'.

Harry glanced towards the speaker, and was rather unimpressed by the better than thou aura the boy radiated.

'This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy' the blonde continued, motioning to the thug like boys by his side.

Whoop de doo Harry thought.

'Well since you already know my name there is no need for my introduction. Unless you wish to know my familiar's name' he replied.

Draco looked warily towards Dusk.

'Yes, I saw your snake when we got off the train. Looks like you'll be put in Slytherin then?'

'I might. Then again I might not. After all, having a snake familiar doesn't mean I belong with the snakes' Harry replied.

'Y…you might be in Gryffindor. Your parents were there' Neville shyly mentioned.

Draco gave a scathing look towards the boy

'I'm surprised they let squibs into Hogwarts. Bet you'll be in Hufflepuff Longbottom. You'll find Potter that some families are better than others, you don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there'.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the offered hand. Another person who wanted to be with Harry for their own selfish reasons. Very much like Ronald. It was a pity the two were arrogant jerks otherwise they might have been good consorts. If anything it would bring them down a few pegs.

'Well I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what house we're placed in. And I don't see anything wrong with being in Hufflepuff Neville. It is the house of loyalty after all. However I have a feeling you are more courageous than you know, so perhaps Gryffindor will have a place for you' he said to his friend, ignoring Draco entirely.

Draco's retort was cut off as professor McGonagall returned.

'We are ready for you now. Follow me' she said.

As they walked down the isle Harry concentrated on the teacher's table. He recognised Albus Dumbledore easily enough. Professor Flitwick was also easy to identify. Harry took a guess that the slightly pudgy woman with the dirt stained apron was professor Sprout. The black haired man on the other end of the table intrigued Harry. He wore a scowl and had slightly greasy looking hair and a hooked nose, which appeared to have been broken more than once. However Harry had a feeling that he would be quite attractive with a little cleaning up. A teacher for a consort? Perhaps.

He watched in amusement as the ratty old hat professor McGonagall placed on the stood started to sing. Such a curious way of sorting the students.

'When I call your name you will come and sit here. I'll place the sorting hat on your head, and you'll be sorted into your house' professor McGonagall explained, then called the first name on her list.

'Abbott Hannah!'

Harry paid enough attention to know who went to what house. He felt eyes watching him and glanced up to see the headmaster giving him a curious smile. The phrase "don't talk to strangers" echoed in Harry's head. He hadn't seen anyone that fitted that description better than Albus Dumbledore. He felt a sudden tingle in his head and shook it away. Someone, and he had a feeling he knew who, had just attempted to see into his mind.

'Potter Harry!'

The hall fell silent, then whispers started up as Harry stepped forward. As he sat he spotted Neville smiling nervously at him from the Gryffindor table, and Hermione from the Ravenclaw.

'**Well now. This is quite curious' **a voice remarked in his head.

'**Is it now?'** he replied casually.

The sorting hat laughed.

'**You are quite the curious child. Snakes, consorts. You're going to cause quite the stir'.**

'**If my choosing my own path causes chaos, then so be it' **Harry replied with a smirk.

'**Ha! I can see you becoming quite the little lord of darkness. Many people are going to oppose your way of thinking. You may have to fight for your freedom' **the hat warned.

'**I'm quite aware of that. However a bit of intimidation goes a long way. I have no desire to slaughter the innocent, but I have no issues defeating those who deserve it' **Harry replied.

'**Like the current Dark Lord?' **the hat asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

'**Are you implying he is not dead?'**

'**There are many mysteries in the wizarding world. He may be closer than you think' **the hat replied.

Harry mused on that as the hat peeked into his mind.

'**Quite the mindscape you have there. It will come in handy. Now then, I suppose I should sort you'.**

'**Please do' **Harry replied in amusement.

'**Hmmm…a real thirst for knowledge. A good deal of cunning. A bit of loyalty, reserved for close friends. Or perhaps you'd prefer close followers? A dash of courage. I'd say this is between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. So hard to choose…'**

'**May I have a say?' **Harry asked.

'**By all means' **the hat replied.

'**Slytherin, while a good house for me, would only encourage people to think I am evil. I would prefer Ravenclaw'** Harry stated.

The hat gave a chuckle.

'**I see your point. Always keep them guessing. Very well then, it has to be…**RAVENCLAW!'

Harry thanked the hat and handed it to professor McGonagall. He hopped off the stool and joined Hermione at the eagle's table. The other tables were stunned that they hadn't got Harry Potter, while the eagles were cheering like mad.

'You were there for some time Harry' Hermione remarked.

'Oh the hat and I had an interesting conversation. He might have forgotten he was supposed to sort me' Harry replied.

Hermione giggled slightly as professor McGonagall finished sorting, then took the hat and stool away. They looked towards the teacher's table as the headmaster stood.

'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. First years should note that the forbidden forest is off limits to all students. I have also been asked by our caretaker Mr Filch, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

And finally, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds, to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death.

And now I finish with some last words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you'.

He waved his hand and the golden servers were suddenly piled high with food. Harry gathered some onto his place as he thought about the headmaster's words.

'Do you think he was joking, about the third floor corridor?' Hermione asked.

'I'm afraid I don't know Hermione. However if it really was dangerous, announcing it in such a manner would only make people curious. Well, it is of no importance to us. I say we leave it well alone and concentrate on school' Harry replied.

Hermione nodded and served herself some potatoes. Harry was left to examine his new house mates. Most were giving him his space and only asking general questions. A few were being a little too nosey and were promptly ignored. One girl called Cho was making cow eyes at Harry. Another mindless fan like Ronald. Really, apart from Hermione and one of the foreign twins Padma, the house of the eagles held no choices for his consort list, so he turned to the other houses. Slytherin's choices were limited to Draco, a dark skinned boy called Blaise, the blonde Daphne and her brunette friend Tracey. The blonde boy he'd seen at the station, Susan and Hannah were listed for Hufflepuff. It appeared that most of the potential consorts came from the house of the lions. The Weasley twins were there, along with the sporty looking brunette. There was also a trio of older looking girls, as well as the other foreign twin, Parvati and her blonde friend Lavender.

And then of course there was the dark haired professor. Professor Snape if he recalled correctly. The youngest potions master in the UK, perhaps even in Europe.

OOO

'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand waving here, many of you will hardly understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death. If you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach'.

Well that sounded rehearsed. Nevertheless Harry could say with little doubt that so far the most promising feature of his potions professor was his voice. The dark silky tone trailed down his spine. Sex thoughts may be a long way in coming, but there was definitely an attraction.

'Potter!' professor Snape said suddenly.

'What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?'

What an odd question to ask a first year. Especially since the potion is fourth year material at least.

'Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death'.

It was only after Harry answered that he picked up something strange in the question. Petunia had spoken a few times of a boy named Severus who was friends with his mother. The asphodel plant belonged to the lily family, and is normally associated in mythology with regret and the dead. Wormwood is a plant known for its bitterness. Very curious. Harry examined the professor for a moment. There, just for a split second in his eyes. Could it be that professor Snape was telling Harry that he too felt the loss of Lily? That he regretted her death and became bitter because of it? This was getting rather interesting. Perhaps professor Snape would make a good consort.

'Hmmm…Very well then, let's try again. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?' the professor then asked.

Ah, now that was first year material. Clearly Harry's correct answer had struck a chord.

'In the stomach of a goat sir' he replied.

Professor Snape sneered.

'And what, pray tell, is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?'

'They are the same plant sir. It also goes by the name of aconite or devil's hood. There are many different names for it' Harry answered.

Out the corner of his eye he spotted Draco glaring at him. He was told by an upperclassman that Slytherin and Gryffindor usually pair for potions. Why it had been changed this year was anyone's guess.

'Too lazy to read a book Potter? Had to ask for help from the older students? Five points from Ravenclaw for cheating!' professor Snape snapped.

Harry raised an eyebrow as the Ravenclaws groaned and the Slytherins sniggered. It would appear what Roger Davies said about unfair bullying was true. As the class continued Harry noticed more unfairness as professor Snape praised the Slytherins for poor work, while snapping and taking points from Ravenclaw for good work. Harry couldn't help but smirk slightly when the professor "accidentally" dropped Harry's perfectly made potion. It was lucky Harry had thought to place an unbreakable spell on his vials. He pitied the other two houses.

OOO

All in all the classes were ok. It didn't take long for Harry to realise history was useless and start doing homework instead. He could easily study in his trunk library or the one in Hogwarts. Defence against the dark arts was just as useless. Professor Quirrell was nothing more than a stammering mess. It was so over the top though that it was easy for Harry to see it was fake. There was something about this professor that rubbed Harry the wrong way.

The headmaster was also on Harry's bad side. Leaving a toddler lying on a doorstep in the middle of a cold night would have got him arrested in the non magical world. No, Harry wasn't about to forgive Albus Dumbledore so easily. What made it worse was that his parent's will stipulated that Harry wasn't to go to the Dursleys at all. He could very well have grown up alongside Neville.

So it was expected that Harry was none too pleased to be called up to the headmaster's office. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, save perhaps annoy professor Snape with his knowledge of potion making. It was amusing to aggravate the man.

'Ah Harry my boy. Just wanted to ensure you are fitting in at Hogwarts. Care for a lemon drop?' the headmaster asked serenely, eyes a twinkling.

'No, thank you. That's very thoughtful of you sir. It must take you forever to get through all the new students. Do you do the same with the older students as well?' Harry replied.

He smirked inwardly when his response seemed to fluster the headmaster for a moment.

'Yes well… Being the headmaster means taking on many responsibilities' the man replied as he recovered.

Way to not answer the question Harry thought.

'So how are you doing in Ravenclaw? I was surprised that you were put there, your parents were both in Gryffindor. I would have thought you would want to follow in their footsteps' Dumbledore then said.

'Will all due respect sir, I'm not my parents. I'm my own person and deserve to be recognised as such. My parents were great people, and it was tragic that they were murdered so early in their lives. But their time has passed, and it is now Harry Potter's time' Harry replied.

It would appear that the esteemed headmaster is trying to push me in the direction he wants. Such a pity that I'm not a puppet, Harry thought.

'Yes of course. I just thought you might be happier there. Have you made any friends yet? I was told young Ronald Weasley was sitting with you on the train?' Dumbledore asked.

'For a while he was. But then it became apparent that he only wants to be friends with someone famous. When he saw Dusk though he was quick to leave the compartment' Harry replied.

'As yes, that familiar of yours. Rather an odd selection is it not? And I hear that you can speak to it as well?'

'Yes. I discovered my parseltongue ability when I was young. And Dusk looked so frustrated being caged up. He and I share quite a few interests. And I don't buy into the whole snake speaking is dark idea. There are those magical people in India who have the ability and are treated with respect due to their culture. If anyone has a problem with Dusk, they shall have to take it up with me' Harry replied.

So he wants me in Gryffindor, to be friends with Ronald, and not to be friends with a snake. I wonder if he has a problem with my being friends with Hermione?

'Yes I'm sure they will. I've noticed that you are quite close to Miss Granger. A muggleborn, as your mother was. Are you getting on alright?' Dumbledore asked.

Ah, so he does have a problem with Hermione. If it didn't mess up my plans, I would love to tell him about my consort list and see the look on his face.

Harry gave a tiny smirk at the thought. He glanced over when a large bird suddenly flared into the room.

'Ah, this is Fawkes, my Phoenix' Albus happily introduced.

_Your_ Phoenix? As I recall from books on Hogwarts, Fawkes is bonded to the school and not the headmaster, Harry thought with a raised eyebrow.

Fawkes trilled and flew to land on the arm of Harry's chair. He gave Harry a piercing look and a slight nod.

Reading my thoughts are you? Sneaky Phoenix.

Fawkes trilled with what suspiciously sounded like laughter and Harry smirked and stroked his feathers.

'It is nice to meet you Fawkes. And to answer your question headmaster I'm getting on quite well with Hermione. So far most of the eagles have respected my privacy. I am also friends with Neville Longbottom. I haven't had the chance to really get to know anyone else. Draco Malfoy is vying for my attention through bullying, and Ronald Weasley seems to think I'm his best friend, despite what happened on the train, something I was quick to put an end to. I am not interested in bullies and fans. Hermione and Neville like me for who I am, and if I must say get along quite well with Dusk. I am happy with them' Harry said.

Albus grumbled to himself. This wasn't going as planned at all. Where was the meek little boy, willing to do anything to please and desperate enough for a friend that he'd pick the first person who was nice to him? This boy sat there, radiating a calm confidence. Albus couldn't even catch a glimpse into Harry's mind, the boy had put up so many defences it would be impressive if it wasn't blocking him. How he had managed that Albus didn't know, and he didn't like it. Surely the Dursleys hadn't treated the boy well? That was not part of the deal. He gave a brief glance to the trinkets linked to Harry. They were spinning and humming away quite happily. The wards were fine, but he would need to keep a close eye on the boy.

'Well I do hope you give your other year mates a chance. Sure you don't want a lemon drop? Very well then, I shan't keep you any longer my boy, off you go and enjoy the rest of your day'.

OOO

By the time Halloween came around, Harry had gone through the entire student and teacher body and made his decision for his consort list. Hermione and professor Snape were on it. As were the Weasley twins, and Oliver Wood the Gryffindor quidditch captain. It was a short list, but he felt in the next few years he would have more people to add to it. He'd met with the Gryffindor team while he was out flying one evening. Since the Gryffindors were also out after curfew, it was agreed that they would have a few games and no professors would be the wiser. Oliver was very impressed, practically speechless when Harry chased after and caught the snitch barely five minutes into the game. Fred and George Weasley had pulled Harry aside and fell to their knees, begging him to either change to Gryffindor or never join the Ravenclaw team. Oliver looked close to doing the same. It was seeing the twins on their knees that solidified Harry's decision to have them as consorts.

Not that Harry was having visions of them in a sexual manner. No, he was imagining sitting on a throne like chair and running his hands through the silky red locks of the twins kneeling by his side and resting their heads on his thighs, while Oliver massaged his shoulders. And of course Hermione would be there, curled into his side, while professor Snape sat on a velvet pillow by the throne and read in contentment, tilting his head in pleasure when Harry chose to pet his hair.

A boy can have his dreams after all.

Draco, while still an arrogant git, occasionally showed that he could submit to his superiors, and thus was the single name on the maybe list. Perhaps he could be Harry's toy or something like that.

'Those books you showed me were very insightful Harry. I've already gone through all the theory needed for this year and the next' Hermione said while she ate.

Harry nodded, his mind elsewhere. Professor Quirrell had become more and more suspicious during class. That stammer of his was extremely annoying, and Harry had caught the man eyeing him when he thought Harry wasn't looking. At the moment Harry was summing up what he knew. Hagrid had brought a stone that made one immortal into the school. The vault that the stone was in was broken into not long after Hagrid picked it up, according to the paper. The third floor corridor was off limits and dangerous, a most unusual occurrence in a school. And one of the professors was acting very strange. Harry wasn't Sherlock Holmes, but he could see that the defence professor must be after the stone, which of course must have been placed in the third floor corridor.

'TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!'

Speak of the devil, Harry thought as he watched the pale man rush down the isle screaming.

'Thought you ought to know' professor Quirrell said before fainting.

As the hall descended into chaos Harry examined the downed man. Even his fainting was over the top.

'SILENCE!'

He glanced up as the headmaster bellowed.

'Prefects will escort the students to their dorms, teachers will come with me to the dungeons'.

'Harry we'd better go' Hermione said, clutching to his arm.

He nodded and they followed the terrified students out the great hall.

'You would think the headmaster would instead keep all the students together in the great hall, or at least get their heads of house to accompany them. The Slytherins will be most at risk, their common room is in the dungeon'.

'Oh my gosh your right! Harry we need to warn them!' Hermione said.

Harry blinked as he was tugged away from the crowds and down towards the dungeon. Now why did he open his big mouth? The two carefully headed down the halls, looking out for the group of snakes.

'Hermione!' Harry suddenly said and pulled her behind a statue.

'Harry wha…?!' she made to say but he covered her mouth.

Her eyes went wide when a huge beast lumbered past them, heading towards the girls bathroom.

'The Troll has come out of the dungeon' Harry remarked quietly.

Hermione pushed his hand from her mouth.

'We need to go Harry! If it's here then the Slytherins are fine and _we're_ the ones in danger!' she whispered furiously.

Harry fought to roll his eyes. But, now that he was here, he was interested to see exactly what all the fuss was about. If he wanted to be taken seriously as a Dark Lord, he needed to amass a portfolio of achievements. Taking down a Troll at eleven would be a good start. His magic seemed to agree and he found himself heading towards the bathroom. It was a pity Dusk was exploring the forbidden forest, he would have been a good back up.

'Harry what are you doing?!' Hermione quietly squealed in horror.

'Why would our defence professor not just take care of the Troll himself? How could a Troll, known for being extremely stupid, be able to breech Hogwarts wards? I have a feeling it was let in as a diversion, and I don't appreciate someone putting the students in danger' he replied.

He felt Hermione take his arm again and carefully pushed open what was left of the bathroom door. The stench hit him and he wrinkled his nose, looking up at the Troll. It wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to them, more interested in smashing the mirror, and the ugly creature inside, to pieces. Hermione tugged on Harry arm with a whimper, but he absently soothed her with a pat on the hand.

Fascinating. Now what did he know about Trolls? Or, more specifically, what did he know about killing them?

He felt a sudden surge in his body. It would seem that his magic, like when he broke the curses on those books, was telling him to play it by instinct. Well, it had worked for the books.

'Oy! Don't you need a license to be that ugly?!'

Hermione gave him a look of disbelief as the Troll finally noticed them.

'It's time to leave now. You are depriving some poor village of its idiot' Harry said with a smirk.

Amazingly the Troll appeared to realise it was being insulted. Or perhaps it was just taking a temper tantrum at being interrupted. Either way it roared in fury and lumbered towards the pair. Hermione screamed but Harry pulled her behind him and whipped out his wand. A stream of overwhelming grey coloured magic shot out and hit the Troll between the eyes. Hermione was just about to scream that Trolls were resistant to spells, when it let out a shriek of pain and toppled to the ground, clutching its head. Its club crashed to the ground as blood began to pour out its nose, eyes and mouth. After a few moments, it let out one last gurgle of breath and lay still.

There was a pause of silence.

'Harry…what did you do?!' Hermione breathed in awe.

'I confess I'm not entirely sure. However what's done is done, and its time we got back to the common room before we're missed' he replied and drew her back out the splintered door.

They turned the corner just as the teachers came running down the opposite hall.

'Harry…I'm starting to think you are a dark wizard' Hermione said quietly.

'Is that a bad thing?' Harry asked.

She glanced behind them, shuddered, and gave him a small smile.

'No Harry. It's not a bad thing at all'.

The Troll's death would forever remain just another mystery of Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes. It was far too early, why did he wake up?

'_More sleep please!' _Dusk complained from his spot at the foot of the bed.

Harry sat up and looked round. Everyone in his dorm had left for the Christmas holidays. Ah, it was Christmas. He'd grown used to waking up early on Christmas. At first it was to make a huge breakfast for his relatives. But now it was simply to have some peace to admire the gently glowing lights of the tree, highlighted by the morning rays.

'_There is time to sleep later. Or perhaps you don't want to know what I got you for Christmas?' _he replied wryly.

'_You got me something? Is it a juicy rat?'_ Dusk asked.

'_You shall just have to get up to see'_ Harry chuckled as he got out of bed.

Ever since Dusk had spotted Ron's familiar, appropriately named Scabbers, he'd been desperate to get his fangs into it.

Harry made use of the bathroom facilities and got himself dressed, then wandered out to the common room and paused on the stairs to admire the large tree glowing in the corner. His eyes were drawn to the shapes below the tree, and he realised that he'd been given presents. Curiously he walked over to the small pile. There was one from Hermione, he recognised her handwriting. There was also one from Neville, identified as an asphodel plant. A thoughtful gift, as Harry didn't have much of the ingredient left. The Gryffindor team also given him something, grouping together to buy him chocolate from Honeydukes. Harry had to smirk when the label thanked him repeatedly for not joining the Ravenclaw team. Hagrid had carved him a flute that made the call of an owl. A nice gift, even if Harry had no real use for it. The last one had no form of identification.

Harry opened Hermione's and found a rather expensive looking writing set, and a book on how to be a top detective. He chuckled as he noticed her handwriting on the inside cover.

'_**Since you seem so determined to solve mysteries, I thought this might give you a helping hand. Hermione'.**_

He hoped she was pleased with her rare edition of "Hogwarts: A History". Neville had been sent a sapling of a rare plant used for healing purposes. Harry figured the boy would have it flourishing in no time. He'd also sent both of them a communication book, keeping a third for himself so they could talk in private. Hagrid had been given a little gemstone Dragon, to replace the one he'd sent away. And he'd given the Gryffindor team high quality broom care kits. Hermione, Oliver and the twins may be his future consorts, but that didn't mean he couldn't spoil them just a little. It was that thought that had Harry send professor Snape a few rare potion ingredients. Anonymously of course.

He gave a quick wand wave over the mystery gift, aware that if he had fans, then he must have enemies. The scan came back negative and he carefully unwrapped the bundle. A flowing silver cloak emerged. Harry ran his hands over it, intrigued. He glanced at the note that fell out.

'_**Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well'.**_

Very curious. Why would a simple cloak be important enough that it wasn't left for Harry in his vaults? He stood and wrapped the cloak round him.

'_Harry! Where did you go?!'_

Harry turned to his familiar who had just slithered down the stairs.

'_I am right here Dusk'._

'_Is this another of those spells? I can smell your scent and hear your voice but where you should be standing is empty' _Dusk puzzled.

Harry raised an eyebrow and glanced down. Dusk was right. He was invisible! An invisibility cloak?

This could come in useful. He had always wanted to see the restricted section of the library. The few meagre visits he'd had were never going to be enough for Harry.

'_So…about that gift you got me…?' _Dusk hissed innocently.

OOO

Harry hummed quietly to himself as he soaked up yet another fascinating book. He was surprised such dark books existed in a school. Harry adjusted his cloak around him and drew the hand of glory a little closer. It had proved its worth when Mr Filch had failed to see Harry, even though they were only a few feet away. His cat Mrs Norris had picked up Harry's scent, but she was terrified of Dusk and thus didn't give Harry away for fear he'd sic the snake on her. Smart cat. Harry did briefly wonder if she was an animagus, but the interest faded fast.

Harry had just pulled another book from the shelf when he overheard people talking. Strange time for a chat. Curling his cloak round him he picked up the hand and crept out his corner to investigate. He uncovered professor Snape and professor Quirrell having a rather interesting conversation. So professor Snape also suspected the stuttering man of trying to steal the stone. Perhaps the limp the man sported after Halloween was due to him confronting professor Quirrell. Harry didn't like the idea of his future consort being hurt. It was time he looked into the third floor corridor. As the two hurried off he snuck out the library and headed towards the forbidden corridor. He came across a simple locked door and whispered the unlocking charm, warily pushing it open a crack and peeked in.

Or professor Snape's limp could have been caused by the Cerberus guarding the stone.

In awe Harry took another step into the room, letting his cloak slip off him. The monstrous creature spotted him and started to growl. Harry frowned.

'I am not here for the stone, you needn't bother growling at me'.

The three heads examined him like a snake examined a mouse. Harry raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. His magic swirled round him and lashed out at the Cerberus. It whined and backed off.

'That's better. It is rather a shame that you're locked up in here. I'm presuming you belong to Hagrid. That man has a fondness for dangerous beasts'.

Harry recalled the incident with Norbert the Dragon. It was friendly enough, but as it grew it was clear keeping a Dragon in a wood cabin was a bad idea. After several fires, thankfully not too large, Harry had finally convinced Hagrid that the Dragon needed a new home. And it was by chance that he'd overheard the Weasley twins talking about their older brother the Dragon trainer. A few letters later and Harry was able to meet Charlie Weasley, and a couple of his trainer friends. The young man was a little stocky, but no less handsome than his twin brothers. He was an easy going young man, with a passion for his work. And he clearly got along well with Hagrid with the way he was talking to the large man. After a brief but friendly conversation with Charlie, Harry decided to put him on the consort list. After Norbert and Hagrid shared goodbyes, the trio of trainers buckled the Dragon in and took off back to the preserve. Hagrid received plenty of letters afterwards, saying that Norberta, for it was discovered he was a she, was settling in fine and getting along well with the trainers and the other Dragons.

The Cerberus whimpered and lay its heads on its paws. Harry examined the beast. Now where did Hagrid get these pets of his? Shrugging he put the hand of glory on the floor and stepped over. He raised his hand to hover over one of the Cerberus' noses.

'You're not that bad. Certainly better than the Troll. And you look healthy enough. I suppose Hagrid must find time to take care of you'.

The beast looked at him curiously, the idle heads sniffing at his hand. Then with a small tail wag it moved forward and let Harry pet it. Harry chuckled.

'Nothing more than a big puppy. I do hope that when all this stone nonsense is over that you're taken to a better home than this'.

The Cerberus wuffed and all three head clambered for Harry's attention. As he petted it Harry noticed the trapdoor under its paws.

'So that's where the stone is? It is almost like the headmaster is baiting professor Quirrell. Am I to find more protections if I happen to go down there?'

He pondered over this for a while, idly scratching the heads behind the ears. The headmaster didn't seem the kind of man who would go through all this trouble just for a professor. Perhaps professor Quirrell was a follower of Voldemort. It would explain the sorting hat's words. Harry gave the Cerberus one final pet before lifting the hand of glory and his cloak and heading back out the door. He gave a soft smile as the beast hunkered down to sleep.

Harry locked the door and wrapped the cloak around him. Holding the hand of glory out he made his way back to the common room. A flash of light caught his attention as he passed an abandoned classroom. Harry snuck a peek in the door to find a large mirror sitting at the back of the class. Carefully Harry made his way over. He spotted and read the words carved along the top of the mirror, smirking when he realised they were carved backwards.

_**I show not your face but your heart's desire**_**.**

For a moment Harry felt nervous. He wanted to take a look into the mirror's depths, but he couldn't bring himself to step forward. If he saw his parents faces smiling back at him…Harry closed his eyes and shook his head, taking a few deep breaths. His parents were dead, and there was no way to bring someone back from the dead. He couldn't get caught up in idle hopes. He gave one last glance at the mirror, before pulling the cloak tightly round him and leaving the room.

That night Harry Potter cried himself to sleep.

OOO

Another trip to the headmaster's office. Harry stifled the urge to curse as he gave the statue the password and trailed up the stairs.

'Come in Harry my boy'.

He hated being called my boy.

Harry lowered himself onto the chair, declined a lemon drop and gave a small nod to Fawkes.

'I couldn't help but notice you were out after curfew last night' the headmaster started, giving Harry a look.

Well at least I'm up here because I broke the rules, Harry thought.

'Yes sir. I apologise but the call of the library was too great' he replied.

The headmaster chuckled.

'Quite alright my boy. I know I was rather fond of late night trips to the kitchens myself. However it is the object you discovered while wandering that I wish to talk about'.

'Object sir?' Harry asked, wondering where this was going.

'Yes. Like hundreds before you, you have discovered the delights of The Mirror of Erised. I expect you've realised by now what it does?' the headmaster replied.

Harry kept silent, unwilling to think about it. He did wonder how the man knew he had seen the mirror, and yet not known he'd met the Cerberus. A charm on the classroom door perhaps.

'Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to look into the Mirror of Erised and see himself, exactly as he is'.

Clearly he wasn't about to drop the subject.

'So it shows us what we want? Whatever we want?' Harry said vaguely, frustration creeping into his voice.

'Yes, and no. It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. Now you Harry, who have never known your parents, you see them standing beside you' the man replied.

I might have if I'd actually looked in the mirror, Harry thought darkly. He didn't appreciate the headmaster trying to upset him by mentioning his parents. The man continued.

'However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it. That is why tomorrow it will be moved to a new home. And Harry, I ask you not to go looking for it again. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live'.

Harry was dismissed from the office after that. He pondered over everything as he headed back to the common room. Why was that mirror so important? Why did the headmaster explain what it did, believing that Harry was desperate for another look, then remark that he was getting rid of it? Why was it in the classroom, right next to the library, in the first place. Harry was starting to believe the man had planted it there deliberately to attract him to it. Harry entered his dorm and slumped onto the bed. He smiled at Dusk who asked if he was ok.

'_I have not fully recovered from last night' _he replied wearily.

Dusk made himself comfortable at Harry's side. He was worried about his friend. How he longed to bite that wretched headmaster.

'_Your parents would be proud of you Harry. They would not care how you choose to live your life' _he said after a while.

Harry smiled softly.

'_Thank you Dusk. I needed to hear that'._

OOO

The holidays ended and class work started back up again. Aside from a few verbal sparring matches with professor Snape, nothing unusual really happened. Dusk had spoke of something in the forest killing Unicorns, however he couldn't get a good look at the perpetrator. Harry spent a few more nights with the Cerberus, which after talking to Hagrid he found was called Fluffy. Only Hagrid would call such a creature by such a name. Professor Quirrell had cut down on the suspicious behaviour, probably to get professor Snape off his back. Harry had a feeling though that the defence professor would make another attempt at stealing the stone soon. He was certain that the one killing the Unicorns was Voldemort. How the man had survived the killing curse was another mystery Harry was desperate to solve. The man was obviously weak if he was drinking Unicorn blood, and desperate enough to live to curse himself with a half life. If professor Quirrell managed to give him the stone though, Harry would have a hard time getting rid of him. Which was why Harry decided to go after the stone himself.

'_Did you truly believe you were going to leave me behind? I missed out on the Troll, I shall not miss out on this!'_

So perhaps he wasn't on his own. Harry smirked as Dusk continued to rant. He unlocked the corridor door and passed through, chuckling when Fluffy bent to greet him with a few slobbery licks.

'Down you silly thing!' he laughed and pushed the Cerberus' heads away.

Fluffy sat on his hunches and happily wagged his tail, not the slightest bit bothered by the snake by Harry's side. Harry knelt and pulled open the trap door.

'_Shall we?'_ he asked.

'_Indeed' _Dusk replied and the two jumped into the darkness.

They landed on a pile of vines. Harry immediately told Dusk to remain still.

'_This is devil's snare. If you move it will squeeze you to death'._

'_Lovely' _Dusk remarked, coiling his tail round Harry's leg to stop them being separated.

Harry carefully brought out his wand and hit the plant with a lumos charm. The devil's snare gave a shriek and the two fell through to the stone below.

'_Ouch!' _Dusk grumbled.

Harry stood and brushed himself off.

'_Are you alright?' _he asked.

'_It will take a lot more than that to shake my coils'_ Dusk replied.

Smirking Harry led the way down the corridor until they reached a door. It was unlocked and they peeked through.

'_I have not seen birds like those before'_ Dusk said.

Harry peered at the little things fluttering around the room.

'_They are keys'_ he remarked.

They entered and went across the room to the opposite door. This one was locked tight.

'_I was not built to chase after flying keys!'_ Dusk hissed.

Harry spotted a broom, then looked at the mass of winged keys. One of them matched the door and he kept his eye on it as he mounted the broom. He had to swerve sharply as the keys made a lunge for him.

'_First flying keys and now attacking keys! You magical people are mad!' _Dusk exclaimed as he ducked into the corner.

Harry flew up high and whipped out his wand. He sent a blasting spell at the swarm. They were launched against the walls and most spiralled to the ground.

'_There Dusk! That old looking key close to you!' _he called.

The snake shot over and coiled himself around the struggling key. Harry swooped down and jumped off the broom. He grabbed the key, let out another blasting spell to the reformed swarm, and unlocked the door. He and Dusk rushed through and slammed the door shut behind them.

'_I have changed my mind. You can keep your adventures!'_ Dusk huffed as they examined the new room.

'_A chess board?' _Harry observed.

He spotted another door and headed for it, only to be blocked by the white pawns. Harry sighed and aimed his wand at the pieces.

'Move or I will fire'.

The pieces remained still, so he concentrated on his magic and let out a beam of grey light. It shattered the nearest pawns, de-armed the bishops, sliced the queen in two, and beheaded the king.

'Checkmate' Harry remarked as the remaining white pieces scrambled to get away from him.

'_You are getting quite good at chess'_ Dusk said wryly as they headed to the next room.

Harry sighed when a larger smellier Troll stood before them and the next door.

'I can't be bothered with this' he muttered and launched his magic at it.

As the Troll bled to death, Harry and Dusk entered the next room.

'_Are we there yet?' _Dusk sighed.

Harry examined the protection. He recognised it as professor Snape's work and smirked. This was more like it. He read the inscription and examined the vials.

'_Dusk you will have to ride on my shoulders for this one. And I will need you to take some of this potion'_ he said, picking up the end vial.

Obligingly the snake slithered up his arm, gulping down a little of the liquid.

_Ugh! That tastes worse than toads!'_

Harry drank the rest of the potion, and walked through the fire.

'The Mirror of Erised?'

He let Dusk down and stepped up to the glass. So this was why the headmaster had mentioned the mirror. Now what did he have to do to bypass it? There weren't any more doors, so the stone should be here somewhere.

Harry steeled himself and took a step closer. His reflection stared back at him, his parents were nowhere to be found. Before Harry could question this, his reflection winked at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining red stone. Smirking, reflection Harry placed it back in his pocket. Harry felt a sudden weight and realised the stone had just appeared in his own pocket. Was that it?

'_What must we do?' _Dusk asked.

Harry turned to his familiar.

'_We needn't do a thing. I have the stone. It is time to head back'._

'_That was easy. Are you sure this isn't a trap?' _Dusk asked warily.

'_I am not sure. Keep an eye out for danger' _Harry replied.

The two carefully backtracked out the rooms and made their way to the trapdoor. Fluffy greeting them warmly and Harry spared a few minutes to pet the Cerberus. In no time at all the two were back in the dorm room.

'_So. Let's see this important stone?' _Dusk prompted.

Harry lay on his bed and fished the stone from his pocket. It shone a bloody red, with an almost liquid centre.

'_That is it? It does not look all that special' _Dusk remarked.

'_Sometimes appearances can be deceiving' _Harry replied.

He decided to hide the stone in his trunk. He had no desire to use it, only to keep it away from the man who murdered his parents.

OOO

It was a few weeks later, a couple of days before the summer, that professor Quirrell had another try at stealing the stone. However, he didn't get very far. The other professors discovered his remains next to Fluffy. Hagrid had mentioned to Harry that any soothing music would send Fluffy right to sleep. And that he told this to the mysterious man who gave him the Dragon's egg in a card game. Of course Harry realised right away who the mystery man was, and came up with a helpful little spell that would block Fluffy's ears to any kind of music. The Cerberus didn't hear the lovely soothing song of the harp professor Quirrell had brought for protection.

Harry later heard from Hagrid that Fluffy had been released into the forest. He made a note to find the Cerberus when he was older and bring it to Potter Manor.

He was once more called up to the headmaster's office. This time the man gravely told him of professor Quirrell's demise, and that the man had been possessed by Voldemort. Harry gave a look to the sorting hat. It winked at him and he smirked slightly, tipping his head in thanks.

Albus grumbled to himself. He had given the boy all the clues. The trip with Hagrid to the vault, the old paper left in Hagrid's hut, the mirror. He even handed over James' cloak so the boy could investigate. And yet, nothing. A trip to the restricted section and a quick look in the mirror, that was it. This was a disaster. The boy should have been friends with Ronald, he shouldn't have a snake for a familiar, he should have been full of curiosity about the stone. Albus pictured the boy and Ronald braving through the traps and Harry confronting Voldemort and Quirrell at the mirror. He could imagine Harry looking in the mirror and getting the stone before having to fight off his arch nemeses. Instead Quirrell had gone through the traps only to come back empty handed and get eaten by the very first trap put in place. The stone seemed to have been sucked into the mirror and no matter what Albus did it wouldn't come out. He sighed, it was so hard to find good pawns these days.

Due to both Harry and Hermione's work in class, Ravenclaw won the house cup. Gryffindor consoled itself with the fact that they had won the quidditch cup that year, for the first time since goodness knows when. The team had worked doubly hard and brought in the best seeker they could find in order to counter the chance that Harry might join the Ravenclaw team. They wiped out the competition.

OOO

'Talk to you soon Harry, Hermione. Bye Dusk. Enjoy your summers' Neville said as they got off the train, heading over to join his grandmother.

They waved him away, then Harry quickly turned to Hermione and took out his wand, asking for hers. Confused she brought it out and he touched the tips together, quietly reciting the spell to remove the trace. When the glow faded Hermione gave a curious look to her wand.

'The trace on it is gone. A gift, for being a friend' Harry said quietly.

She gave him a wide eyed look, then her face lit up in a smile and she hugged him tightly. Then she pulled away with a frown.

'How did you know that spell? And why didn't you do it to Neville's wand?'

'Now Hermione, I can't give up all my secrets' Harry teased.

She giggled as he continued.

'Those of pure blood have wards on their home to allow underage magical children to practice magic. It's commonplace. Of course, most purebloods wouldn't dream of allowing non magical born children to know their little secret'.

She made a face and looked ready to argue that it wasn't fair on people like her, but then sighed and thanked him, realising it was yet another way that some purebloods discriminated on those of so called lesser blood status. After spending some time with her parents, Harry bid her farewell and found his uncle.

'Welcome back Harry. Have a good time at that school of yours?' Vernon asked.

Harry settled against the back seat with a smirk. Dusk slithered in beside him.

'It was an interesting year Vernon. I can't wait to see what happens in the next one'.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry's summer wasn't all that special. A few more trips to Diagon Alley and a couple of research projects on the magical world. And of course plenty of conversations with Hermione and Neville. It was near the end, the day before his birthday, that things got a bit more interesting.

'Harry Potter!'

Harry examined the little creature that had suddenly appeared in his room, absently soothing the ruffled feathers of Hedwig who had been startled awake.

'So long has Dobby wanted to meet you sir… Such an honour it is…'

'Thank you, I suppose. May I ask what you are and why you are in my room?' Harry asked.

'Dobby is a House Elf sir. Dobby has come to tell you sir…it is difficult sir… Dobby wonders where to begin…' the little creature replied.

'Perhaps you would like to sit while you think about it' Harry offered.

To his bewilderment, the Elf burst into tears.

'Sit down! Never…never ever…!' he wailed.

'Have I offended you?' Harry asked curiously.

'Offend Dobby! Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard…like an equal…!'

'I see. You can't have met many decent wizards then' Harry said.

'No, Dobby hasn't' the Elf replied, then without warning leapt up and started banging his head furiously against the window, shouting 'Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!'

'Harry. Everything ok up there?' came Petunia's voice.

'Everything's fine Petunia. I just have a guest' Harry called back, gently but firmly pulling Dobby away from the window.

'Why are you hurting yourself?' he asked.

'Dobby had to punish himself sir. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family sir'.

'I see. And does your family expect this behaviour from you? Do they know you're here' Harry asked.

He recalled reading about wizarding families having House Elves as a sort of servant. Clearly this one, with his tatty stained pillowcase, was being treated more like a slave.

Dobby shuddered.

'Oh no sir... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you sir. Dobby's family ordered Dobby to punish himself if Dobby ever did anything wrong. They would not be happy that Dobby spoke ill of them. If they were here they would order Dobby to shut his ears in the oven door. If they ever knew sir…'

'They don't sound like the best of families. I'm assuming it is not possible for you to leave, or transfer to another family?' Harry said.

'No sir. A House Elf can never leave. They will never set Dobby free. Dobby will serve the family until he dies sir' Dobby replied sadly.

'What about transferring you to another family? Is there anyway that can happen?' Harry asked.

Dobby thought about it for a moment.

'Dobby might be able to transfer. But the family would have to allow it sir'.

'So, if I were to write to them, asking for you to be transferred to myself, do you believe they will grant it? Perhaps if I include some form of payment?' Harry asked, already thinking up a draft letter.

Dobby's eyes went wide.

'Harry Potter would really do that for Dobby…?!'

He launched himself at Harry's legs and hugged them tightly, tears dripping down his cheeks.

'Is that a yes?' Harry asked, gently prying the Elf off.

Dobby suddenly looked downhearted.

'Oh…Harry Potter's idea is a very good one. But Dobby not sure his family will accept'.

'How many Elves work for your family?' Harry asked.

'There be just Dobby sir' the Elf replied.

Harry hummed to himself and fished out some parchment and ink from his trunk. He sat at his desk and wrote out a letter, making sure to come across as a political person. He listed fair points in his favour and added an amount he believed this family would accept. Signing it with the initials D.L.P he placed his quill down and double checked his spelling and wording, finding it to his satisfaction. There was just one thing missing.

'Dobby, I realise that you may not be allowed to give the name of your family, but it would be very helpful in pleading your case'.

The Elf nervously wrung his hands in his pillowcase.

'Dobby is not sure sir…'

Harry nodded in understanding, then picked up his letter and handed it to the Elf. Dobby gave him a curious look, and Harry urged him to read it. The Elf's eyes went very wide as he looked over the content.

'You see why I could use the family name? I'm coming across as a rich lord looking for "worthless Elves" to run my silver mine. As you can see I'm prepared to pay handsomely for you. For this to work I need the name of the family, that way I can mention that an acquaintance of mine drew my attention to them and their Elf' Harry explained.

Dobby was one step away from bouncing up and down with glee. The Elf then lost it and did just that, giggling and hugging the letter to him.

'Dobby thinks it's a great letter sir! Harry Potter is so clever! And he wants to pay for Dobby as well!'

The Elf then handed Harry back the letter and nodded with determination.

'Dobby will tell Harry Potter who his family is'.

Harry smiled and picked up his quill. His eyebrows shot to his hairline when the little Elf told him he belonged to the Malfoys. This worked out quite well for Harry. He finished the letter, placed it in an envelope, and slipped a bank cheque inside, handing it to Dobby.

'If you could take this to Draco Malfoy instead of his parents. I have a feeling he will happily hand you over for the money'.

Giggling Dobby took the letter.

'Harry Potter is so very clever!' he squealed and popped away.

Harry settled back on his bed with a chuckle.

'_Thank the stars he's gone!' _Dusk exclaimed.

'_Is that any way to treat the newest member of our team?' _Harry asked in amusement.

Dusk gave him an incredulous look.

'_You are letting him join?! But he's too bouncy!' _he whined.

'_If he joins he will be a valuable member of our group. Just as you and Hedwig are. He will calm down once he's settled in' _Harry scolded lightly.

The snake seemed happy enough with that, and slithered out the room and downstairs to hunt in the back garden. Hedwig resettled herself and tucked her head under her wing. Should that little creature decide to join, she hoped he was quieter in expressing it.

It was little more than an hour later that Dobby returned, clutching an old sock. He was thankfully quieter, but no less happier than he was when he left.

'Master Draco ordered Dobby to go to Dobby's new master and gave Dobby clothes! He said that it was about time they got rid of Dobby!' the Elf giggled.

'Well now, how would I go about asking for your service?' Harry asked.

The Elf's eyes went impossibly wide.

'Harry Potter wants Dobby as his Elf?!'

'I did say this was a transfer, didn't I? Of course, if you'd prefer to be free…' Harry began.

He was interrupted as Dobby violently shook his head and sprung over to hug his legs.

'Dobby would love to be Harry Potter's Elf! Harry Potter needs to put his hand on Dobby and say he wants Dobby as his Elf and the bond will be completed!'

Harry nodded and did so, placing his hand on Dobby's head and declaring Dobby as his Elf. There was a glow of light and Dobby squeaked happily.

'Thank you master! Thank you!'

Harry smiled and offered Dobby a seat. The Elf scrambled to sit as if he'd been given an order.

'Alright Dobby, as a new member of the team, there are a few rules you have to follow'.

Dobby nodded furiously.

'Rule number one. We are going into Diagon Alley and getting you a proper uniform, you will not wear attire like that with me. Rule two. You are to take care of yourself. That means being well fed and healthy. Rule three. If you feel you have done something wrong, I want you to come to me and I shall decide your punishment. No more punishing yourself. Rule four, any secrets I tell you will be kept a secret. Last but not least, if you can, I'd like you to call me Harry'.

Dobby looked ready to launch himself at Harry's feet again, so Harry quickly continued.

'Over there is Hedwig, and my other familiar is a snake called Dusk. My relatives will not bother you, and if you wish to help out with chores and whatnot then you are free to do so, as long as you make sure the neighbours don't see you'.

His books told him that House Elves are only happy when they are serving. He went on to explain his ideas for the future and his consort list. Dobby gleefully said that he would follow all of Harry's rules and would help whenever he was needed. Harry could already feel a bond growing between them.

'Now Dobby. You came here to say something to me?' Harry asked.

'Oh, Dobby almost forgot all about that! Dobby was going to tell Harry Potter not to go back to Hogwarts. But now Dobby has seen that Harry Potter is a strong and smart wizard… Dobby doesn't know anymore…' the Elf said.

'Why was I not to go back to Hogwarts?' Harry asked curiously.

'There is a plot Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. Dobby has known about it for months' Dobby said nervously.

'A plot?' Harry hummed to himself.

He then turned back to the Elf.

'You know about it? Will you explain?'

Dobby's eyes went wide.

'Dobby can explain! Dobby not with family anymore!'

And so the Elf told Harry about Lucius Malfoy's idea to bring a dangerous item into the school and use it to cause chaos. An item that belonged to You-Know-Who. Harry listened with interest.

'Can you get me this item Dobby?'

The Elf jumped up with a fierce nod and popped away. He returned an instant later with a little black book, holding it by his fingertips and handing it to Harry. It was a plain thing, a bit worn, with the name Tom Marvolo Riddle on the back. It reeked of dark magic, but that was of no concern to Harry.

'You say this belonged to Voldemort?' Harry asked.

Dobby squeaked and covered his mouth.

'Harry Potter says his name…!'

Sighing Harry looked back at the book. After a few moments he smirked and brought out a scrap of parchment. He wrote down the name Tom Marvolo Riddle, then he wrote down Lord Voldemort. Then he used the letters of Riddle's name and created the phrase "I am Lord Voldemort". Clever. He wondered who else knew this information. He also made a note to look up what he could about Riddle.

'I can certainly sense dark magic from this. Dobby, do you know what it was supposed to do?' Harry asked.

The Elf nodded fearfully.

'Bad soul piece inside it! Dobby heard old master say he was going to give it to a student. It would possess them' he whispered.

Harry raised an eyebrow. A soul piece? Did that mean Voldemort still wasn't dead?

'Are you saying Voldemort split his soul and placed a part in this book? Is that why he didn't die that night?'

Dobby squeaked again at the name, but nodded. Harry looked thoughtfully at the book. He would have to do some research on this.

'Thank you Dobby. You've been very helpful. I will need to find a place for you to sleep. There's space in the attic, I can buy some furniture. What do House Elves need?'

The Elf sprang over and attached himself to Harry's legs.

'Harry Potter be caring about Dobby! Harry Potter want to buy Dobby furniture! Dobby not be needing anything! Dobby will happily sleep on the floor!' he wailed.

Shaking his head Harry gently pried the Elf off him.

'It is my duty to keep you happy, and I insist in making sure you are comfortable. Tomorrow we will go into Diagon Alley and you will be given a uniform and some bedroom furniture and I will clear a space in the attic, and that is final' he said.

It took him nearly twenty minutes to calm the sobbing Elf down after that.

OOO

Harry sat at his desk and stared. Hedwig and Dusk were out hunting, and Dobby was hopefully sleeping, and not dusting the attic. That just left Harry, and Tom Riddle's diary.

How did he split his soul? Did he do it more than once? If he did, what other items did he use?

The answers, or some of them, could be in this little book.

Harry picked up a quill and dipped it in the ink. He hovered over the blank pages. A drop of ink dripped from the quill and splashed onto the book. Harry watched with interest as the ink was sucked into the pages until there wasn't even a hint of a stain. He thought for a bit, then started writing.

'_**My name is Dark Lord Harry'.**_

He felt it better if he not include his second name. As he watched, his sentence was sucked into the book, and a reply started to form.

'_**Hello Dark Lord Harry. My name is Lord Voldemort'.**_

It was very similar to the books he gave Hermione and Neville, except that the person replying was actually inside the book. Very strange. Harry wrote again.

'_**It is good to meet you Lord Voldemort. May I ask if there is a second book that you are writing from?'**_

He of course knew there wasn't, but it wouldn't hurt to try and draw out any secrets this piece of soul had.

'_**No. I have embedded a portion of my soul within this diary'.**_

'_**Fascinating. I have never heard of such a process. It would greatly help myself if I could do the same. Many people are opposed to my way of thinking and having this process to help keep me alive would be of great use. What age were you when you did this?' **_ Harry wrote.

He wasn't hoping for miracles, but any little crumb of information could help. Clearly this version of Voldemort was still young enough to fall for such a trick.

'_**I am fifteen, though I had discovered the ritual some years earlier. It is very useful to become immortal, especially when it is done more than once'.**_

_**Then I offer my congratulations for achieving it so young in life. I am very fortunate to have come across your diary. Are you implying that you have done this ritual more than once?' **_Harry replied, crossing his fingers.

'_**I plan on doing this ritual six times, allowing me to have seven anchors to the earth when you include my own body. Of course, in order to achieve this, there needs to be a sacrifice. I chose a pathetic muggleborn for this. Myrtle I believe her name was. Filthy mudblood'.**_

'_**Indeed, their kind has been spreading like wildfire and it is always good to hear about them being culled' **_Harry lied, feeling sick to his stomach.

He remembered moaning Myrtle who haunted the first floor girl's bathroom. Hermione had spoken of her. To know that she'd been killed by Riddle was a horrible thought. He now knew roughly how many items he had to find. He had one, now he just needed clues on where to find the others.

'_**Better yet, she was killed not by my hands, but by the deadly gaze of my Basilisk, hidden within the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts'.**_

'_**I have not heard of that. How amusing to know you had a Basilisk under your control' **_Harry replied, already making a note to find out what he could about this chamber, and if the Basilisk was still inside.

'_**It obeys only those of Slytherin descent' **_came the reply.

This was a goldmine of information. This young soul piece was spilling out secrets like he'd been fed veritaserum.

'_**Ah, so you are of the same blood as the great Salazar Slytherin. How I long to be able to watch the slaughter of the mudblood'.**_

The reply chilled him.

'_**You can'.**_

He found himself suddenly pulled into the diary and landed hard within the halls of Hogwarts. Stumbling to his feet Harry brushed himself off and looked round. There was a noise above him and he looked up to find a younger Albus Dumbledore with a young teen, discovered to be Tom Riddle. They were watching as a pair of wizards carried the body of a young girl down the stairs. Harry felt a pang of sadness for Myrtle, he hoped her death was at least painless. He watched the events unfolding, being pulled from one time period to another. Looking on as Hagrid was blamed for Myrtle's death and the creature of the chambers accused of being his pet Acromantula. Watching the moment Myrtle died. Seeing the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and what it looked like inside. As the last memory ended, Harry was thrown back out the diary. He would get no more information from this book. He closed it and placed his wand tip on the cover, concentrating on his magic. The powerful grey aura swirled round him, pressing down on the diary and pulling the soul piece from it. There was a deafening scream as the piece that was fifteen year old Voldemort was crushed into nothing. Panting Harry sat back.

'Is Harry Potter hurt?'

He smiled over at Dobby.

'I am fine Dobby. I have got rid of the dark magic surrounding this book'.

He stood and stretched, pausing to overcome the slight dizziness. Dobby helped him to his bed and he collapsed, already half asleep.

'Dobby, I am sorry I woke you, but if you could do me one more thing' he asked.

'Harry Potter need not to be worried about waking Dobby up. Dobby will of course do anything' the Elf replied.

Harry pointed to the book.

'Can you take that back to the Malfoys and place it where you found it?'

The little Elf nodded and popped away with the diary. He was back only moments later, but Harry was already out cold.

'Harry Potter a very strong wizard, but he still be a young wizard. Dobby make sure Harry Potter gets plenty of rest' he whispered, pulling the cover over his master.

OOO

Harry checked his list as he headed for the bookstore. Dobby had taken to the household chores with vigour, ensuring every window was sparkling and every flower was in full bloom. Even trying to clear a dish was impossible with the Elf around. Harry tried not to be lazy, he really did, but with Dobby's beaming smile when presented with a task, and his proud stance in his new uniform with the Potter family crest of it, it was very easy for Harry to wind up lying around doing absolutely nothing. When his school list arrived, he was desperate for the chance to do something, and so with Dusk on his shoulders, he had Vernon take him to Diagon Alley.

'_Is there much more to get?' _Dusk asked.

'_Just some books then we can go home and Dobby can get you a treat' _Harry replied.

At first Dusk and Dobby didn't get along. The snake was much too huffy around the hyper little Elf and Dobby in turn was fearful around the deadly snake. Eventually though, as an act of peace, the Elf had presented Dusk with a large freshly caught rat. So now the two were best of friends. And of course Dobby didn't leave Hedwig out, making sure she had some extra treats to go with the prey she caught.

'_It is busy today'_ Dusk remarked.

Harry hummed in agreement, pushing his way through the crowds until he reached the desk.

'Good morning. Do you have any new books?'

The clerk by now knew Harry well, and had begun to set aside a copy of any new books he received.

'Just the set from this Lockhart character. He's doing a book signing at the moment over there, if you're interested' he replied.

'Not really' Harry remarked and the man rang up his purchase.

'Yeah, most of the males have said the same. The females now, they are going crazy for this guy. He's supposed to be a great wizard, if you believe the books he writes. Personally, I think he's over exaggerating his stories a bit' the clerk replied with a grin.

Harry had a quick look through the books, and had to agree. This Lockhart seemed to care more about his hair products and his fashion, than the creatures he supposedly fought.

'They will make for an interesting read, if anything' he replied.

'Harry!'

He turned to see Hermione and her parents.

'Hermione, good to see you. And of course yourselves Mr and Mrs Granger' Harry greeted with a slight bow.

Rolling her eyes Hermione pulled him into a hug, being mindful of Dusk. Harry had met her parents as he, Neville and Hermione had got off the Hogwarts Express. They were naturally wary of Hermione being close to a venomous snake, but she assured them Dusk was perfectly harmless. Dan Granger had given Harry the typical "you're sniffing around my daughter and I'm on to you" look, while Emma Granger was too busy cooing over how handsome Harry was. Realising he had to earn the acceptance of Hermione's parents before doing anything with her, Harry's behaviour and manners were that of a proper gentleman. By the end of their short meeting he'd charmed Emma into submission. Dan would need some more work, but his daughter being friends with Harry was a step in the right direction.

'Emma will be just fine Harry. It's quite busy here today, do you know why?' Emma replied, glancing at the crowds.

'I've just been told there is a book signing today, by one Gilderoy Lockhart' Harry replied.

'He's written most of the books on the school list. I've never heard of him' Hermione said curiously.

Harry handed her one of his books on the man.

'He is supposed to be a great wizard, at least that's what the clerk told me' He said.

Hermione made a face as she looked through the book.

'Every second sentence is like a tip on fashion or hair care! Listen to this one:

"_**While travelling to the lair of the Bandon Banshee, it was important that I kept my hair from sticking to my face. To ensure I would be able to see when I finally came across the beast. My recommended product is Fernando's Magical Curls, imported from France, for that all important style. Guaranteed to give shine and remove unattractive dandruff".**_

It goes on like this for the next three lines before he finally goes back to the banshee. Then just six lines later he goes on about keeping his nails clean! People actually read this?! Why is this even on our school list?!'

Before Harry could answer her, he found himself yanked into the crowds. Dusk hissed and the man who grabbed him nervously backed away. Scowling Harry made to leave when he was again grabbed and pulled over by Lockhart himself. Camera's started flashing.

'Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography…which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge. He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, "Magical Me". He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that…YELP!'

His speech was cut off as Dusk lashed out and sank his fangs into the man's hand.

'_You will not grab Dark Lord Harry like that!' _the snake hissed.

Smirking as the man started whimpering, Harry summoned a potion from his trunk.

'Normally Red-bellied snakes aren't very venomous but as this one is magical his venom is three times as potent. You are lucky I have created the anti-venom'.

He handed it to the man, who snatched it and gulped it down. Harry raised an eyebrow. Not much of a warrior of he didn't even check the potion before drinking. It could very well have been poison for all he knew.

'_Did you have to give that idiot the potion?!' _Dusk grumbled.

'_He is an idiot, I agree. But he is not worth me being classed a murderer. Thank you Dusk, for defending me' _Harry replied with a chuckle.

His thanks appeased the snake who settled back on his shoulders. Harry looked over as Hermione called him, pushing her way through the crowds.

'You ok Harry?'

'Perfectly fine Hermione. Mr Lockhart here learned that it isn't polite to grab' Harry replied.

The man seemed to recover from the incident, and beamed a charming smile at the crowd.

'Well done Harry! A fine demonstration on defence tactics! And of course ladies and gentlemen I ensured there was a counter potion on hand'.

The two gave him an incredulous look. Dusk hissed in warning and Lockhart nervously stepped back.

'Yes well…as I was saying. I have great pleasure in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of defence against the dark arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!'

He posed for the cameras as the crowd applauded. Harry gave a look to Hermione, who returned it, and the two started heading away from the signing table.

'Harry my boy, don't forget to pick up your books. Free of charge of course!' Lockhart called.

Sighing Harry glanced back at Lockhart.

'If I took those people might think I was using my fame to get free things. Besides, I have already bought your books. And I would appreciate it if you asked me in the future if I wanted to pose with you for pictures. Also, I would love to hear how you created that anti-venom potion when this is the first time my familiar has met you'.

Of course it would be hard to believe a twelve year old created such a potion, so Lockhart's pitiful excuse won the crowd over. The pair reached Hermione's parents, who were tutting at Lockhart's behaviour.

Looks like he'll be just as bad as Quirrell was, or worse' Hermione muttered.

'Agreed' Harry replied, spotting a group of red heads entering the shop.

'Harry!' the twins called in greeting.

Smiling he headed in their direction.

'Good to see you again, Fred, George'.

They sidled up him, playfully cooing over Dusk

'How's our little secret seeker?' Fred asked.

'And our deadly little snake?' George followed.

Hermione giggled as Harry rolled his eyes. Dusk hissed out a laugh and preened under the twin's petting. He'd been introduced to them after they spotted him and Harry taking a midnight wander to the library. He found the pair very entertaining.

'We are just fine' Harry replied.

'Here for the signing are you Potter? Getting all cosy with Lockhart?' Ron scoffed.

'Not really Ronald, just getting my school books' Harry answered.

Ron scowled but jumped back when Dusk hissed at him. The twins cracked up at his actions.

'Boys!' Molly Weasley warned.

Harry examined the family, now that he had the chance to do so up close. The father was with them, a slightly balding man with kind looking eyes. The mother also looked quite kind, though Harry could see she was the one that dealt out the discipline in the household. The girl, Ginny if he recalled from the twins, was eyeing Harry adoringly with a blush creeping up her cheeks. Harry fought the urge to groan. Yet another fan girl. Percy wasn't with them, but he figured the older boy was off by himself somewhere.

'My apologies Mrs Weasley. Dusk and your son have met before, and Ronald did not give off a good first impression. My name is Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you and Mr Weasley. And of course Miss Weasley' he greeted with a bow.

'A pleasure to meet you too Harry' Arthur Weasley replied, impressed with the boy's behaviour.

Molly was instantly won over by his manners.

'Oh none of this Mrs Weasley with me young man! You can call me Molly. My, such a handsome boy you are Harry. Very much like your father. I can see you got your manners from your mother however'.

Harry gave a soft smile.

'Thank you. Were you close with my parents? I have often wondered about such things as what their favourite subject in school was, or simply their favourite colour'.

Molly started to tear up.

'Oh deary…! We knew them but not as much as others. I'm afraid I can't help you with those questions'.

'There's no need to fret. I was simply curious. I have been told many things about them, but sometimes it is nice just to hear the little things' Harry said

He found himself suddenly squashed in a hug, his face pressed between a rather developed bosom. Dusk, who had kept his own head clear, wasn't entirely sure if this was a threat to Harry, or a reward.

'_Should I do anything?!'_

'_Uh…' _Harry tried to say.

'Mum I believe Harry might be finding it hard to breathe' Fred sniggered.

'Yeah. That and there's a bit too much blood rushing to his face' George snorted.

Fighting a smile Arthur gently pulled his wife away from the poor boy. A bit dazed, Harry offered her a smile. Molly looked ready to pull him back in.

'So are you here for the book signing?' Emma quickly asked, changing the subject.

Harry sidled up to Hermione as the adults chatted. Arthur, realising that Dan and Emma were muggles, quickly turned the subject on to the wonders of muggle artefacts.

'That was a rather strange experience'.

His friend failed miserably at stifling giggles and Harry mock glared at her.

'Well now, have you got your books deary? I could help if you want' Molly offered.

'Thank you for the offer, Molly, but I have already bought everything on my school list' Harry replied.

'Perhaps you and the Granger family would like to join us for some lunch after we get this lot's books' Arthur asked.

Harry glanced at the Grangers. They quickly accepted and he turned back to Arthur.

'Thank you, I would love to join you for lunch. I'd rather not get caught up in the crowds again, so I will wait for you by the door'.

Arthur nodded and followed his wife and children into the sea of people. Hermione still had books to get so she and her parents headed deeper into the shop. Harry started for the door.

'Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?'

Harry glanced over to find Draco by the stairs. Lovely.

'Famous Harry Potter, can't even go into a book shop without making the front page'.

Dusk hissed but Harry just stood there, arms crossed and leaning on a bookcase.

'Exactly what book signing did you go to in order to believe that?' he remarked.

The blonde scowled, then sneered in the direction of the Weasleys.

'Got yourself a girlfriend Potter? That little Weasley girl couldn't keep her eyes off you'.

'I'm afraid I'm not interested in fans. I'd say you can attempt to woe her, but I have a feeling she'd hex me if I did' Harry said.

'Harry, everything ok here?'

He gave a smile as Arthur came over.

'Had to get away from the crowds' the man explained with a grin.

'Exactly why I am here. And yes, everything is fine' Harry replied with a nod of agreement.

Arthur went to pat him on the shoulder, then paused when he remembered about Dusk.

'I assure you my familiar is quite harmless. He is rather fond of your twins. He finds their antics entertaining' Harry said.

'Is that so?' Arthur asked in amusement, braving it and patting Harry's shoulder.

'_This one is the parent? I like him, he reminds me of your twins' _Dusk hissed.

Harry chuckled quietly.

'Dusk likes you Mr Weasley, he says that you remind him of Fred and George'.

Arthur blinked.

'Really…? Well in my youth I have been known to pull a few pranks. The twins told me you could speak to snakes. I confess I've never heard someone speak parseltongue before. It's always good to experience new things'.

'My thoughts exactly. To judge someone just because they are different is to never expand your horizon' Harry agreed.

Draco stood there like a third wheel, fuming about being ignored. He was about to launch into a rant, until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He smirked.

'Well, well, well… Arthur Weasley'.

'Lucius' Arthur replied coldly.

Harry had to stop himself from gaping. _This_ was Draco's father. Which meant the woman by Mr Malfoy's side must be Draco's mother. Holy Merlin! If this is what Draco would grow to look like, why was he on the maybe list?! Harry decided then and there that all three members of the Malfoy family would be his consorts. He didn't care how he got them, but he was going to get them. He was so busy daydreaming that he missed most of the conversation around him. It wasn't until Lucius had slipped some books back into Ginny's cauldron and exited the shop with his family, that Harry came back to awareness. He glanced at the girl's cauldron, noticing a familiar little black book. He smirked slightly, Ginny was in no danger.

'Good riddance' Arthur muttered.

'Can we eat now?!' Ron whined.

OOO

'These books are useless! The dates intermingle, the spells are all wrong and he spends way to much time on beauty products and fashion!'

Harry agreed with her completely. This Lockhart character would do better as an actor rather than a teacher. Why Dumbledore ever decided to bring him here was anyone's guess.

'I know we shouldn't deface our books, but really the only use I see for these ones are to doodle on' Neville said.

'There are small, very small, snippets of good information. Not that I'm defending the man of course. I took the liberty of extracting all the useful information and putting it on parchment' Harry replied.

He brought out the pitifully small bundle.

'I copied the information for you both' he said, handing Neville and Hermione a sheet of parchment each.

Neville snorted.

'Several books worth, into one sheet of parchment. Thanks Harry, that'll save me having to properly read the books'.

Hermione made a face at her sheet, then shook her head with a sigh.

'How do they ever expect us to do well on our exams when _this_ is the only good information you could get from those books. You didn't have to do that Harry, thanks'.

'I have a sheet for a few other people as well, it was no trouble. Somewhat boring and more than a little annoying to sort through the rubbish but no real trouble' Harry replied with a little smirk.

They glanced over as the door opened.

'Hello. I'm looking for some Clitterfangs, you wouldn't happen to have seen any?'

Neville and Hermione gave the girl a bewildered look, while Harry just raised an eyebrow.

'I don't believe I've heard of those. Might I ask what they look like?'

'Oh they're very sweet little creatures. Daddy says they are drawn to those who share a very close friendship. When I felt the aura you three had I was so sure I'd find some in here'.

'Uh, sorry. We haven't seen any creatures in here' Neville replied.

The girl smiled dreamily.

'Well, maybe I interrupted them when I came in. Perhaps I should introduce myself, then they might think we are friends and come back. My name's Luna Lovegood'.

'A pleasure to meet you Luna. My name is Harry Potter and this is Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger' Harry greeted, standing to give her a small bow and shake her hand.

'Hello Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. And hello to the snake hiding under the chair' Luna replied dreamily.

Harry blinked, giving a glance to Dusk. The snake was curled up asleep, and very hard to notice in his position.

'You are very sharp eyed. He is called Dusk. At the moment he's being lazy but I'm sure if he were awake he would say hello'.

Luna gave a giggle.

'I noticed him as you stood. I think that's why the Clitterfangs didn't come in here. They aren't very keen on snakes'.

'Would you like to sit with us, if you don't already have a compartment?' Harry offered.

As she accepted and sat down, he examined her. This girl intrigued him. True, he wasn't entire sure if the creature she was looking for existed, but through her dreamy expression he could see a sneaky side. Luna Lovegood wouldn't be one for the consort list, pretty though she was, but Harry had a feeling she would make a great ally.


	6. Chapter 6

Lockhart was proving to be the same, if not worse than Quirrell ever was. His lessons were moronic, the first consisting of a quiz on his last book. What the man's favourite colour had to do with defence was anyone's guess. And then if that wasn't bad enough, the man then had students up to act out some of his heroic scenes. Harry fought to keep the smirk off his face when Ronald was only too eager to play the part of the Werewolf, growling away like an idiot while Lockhart pretended to vanquish him.

It was also amusing to note that most of the other teachers showed open distain with the man. Even Hagrid, who normally had nothing but nice things to say, was not impressed with the vain man's attitude.

Harry made it a point to have Dusk with him as much as possible. His familiar had become the only way to rid himself of the man's advances. Dusk was happy to oblige. Stalking Scabbers had taken a back seat to terrifying Lockhart, and anything to make the man squeal like a pig made the snake's day.

In between classes and homework, Harry had been able to dig up some information on Tom Riddle. It wasn't much, but it did give the rough location of a house in the Riddle name. It also gave his mother's family name, Gaunt. This information was given to Dobby to allow the little Elf to search for any more items with the same dark aura as the diary. Harry had to stress to Dobby that his safety was the top priority, and that if there were any traps then he was not to try and dismantle them unless he knew for certain that he could without harming himself. Harry had also tasked Dobby to go to Potter Manor and make sure the family home was in good condition. He would leave Godric's Hollow alone, it held too many bad memories.

Harry had also spoken to the Goblin in regards to the soul pieces. They had told him that such items, known as horcruxes, were one of the darkest kinds of magic one could make. They ensured Harry that they would check every vault from top to bottom, and that if they found any that Harry would be notified.

Of the new first years, there was one who was somewhat persistence in his attempts to get close to Harry, because he was Harry Potter. Colin Creevy was very much like a hyper puppy, and the only thing preventing him from following Harry everywhere was the fact that they were in different houses. However Harry kept calm around the boy and allowed a few pictures, mainly to try and stop Colin popping up wherever Harry was. He quickly stopped when Lockhart noticed and slinked his way into some of the pictures, claiming it was better for Harry to be around such a superstar.

Ginny Weasley was, thankfully, too shy to get close to Harry. He was sure though that it wouldn't take her long to start acting like the other fan girls. Some were fine to be around, and were more playful than anything else, such as the Gryffindor chaser trio. And some, like Cho Chang, were borderline obsessive. Harry had a feeling that once Ginny came out her shell, she'd be worse than the Chinese Ravenclaw.

Luna had fitted in quite snugly to Harry's little group. Sorted into Ravenclaw, she made a point of sitting with them whenever she could. Since they had a tendency to sit together at either the eagle or the lion table, the trio were only too happy to accommodate her. The alternative was to leave her to the sharks that were most of the female Ravenclaw population. Cho, for whatever reason, had made it her mission to pick on the little blonde and her quirky ways. Harry had lost count of the times he and Hermione had stumbled across the Chinese girl and her gang tormenting Luna. The little blonde took it in her stride, though Harry suspected that it would be a different story if she didn't have friends looking out for her. Though, he noted with some amusement, Neville seemed to be going out of his way to make the little blonde happy. The beginnings of what he would later discover to be a life long partnership. Even Dusk liked Luna, saying that she had a soothing aura. The only fault Harry could find with her, and even that turned out to be a good thing, was that she was too sneaky for her own good.

'What are you doing Harry?'

Harry blinked and glanced up to see Luna standing over him. He'd been so absorbed in his research that he'd forgotten the world around him.

'Luna. My apologies, I was caught up in my research'.

'Anything I could help with?' the little blonde asked.

Harry glanced at his work. It had been done in code to prevent others reading it.

'Not that I don't appreciate the offer Luna, but I would rather you didn't get involved. My research involves some rather dark magic'.

Luna glanced thoughtfully at the sheets of parchment.

'Tom Riddle's soul pieces. Yes, I suppose that would be dark magic'.

Harry blinked and looked at his work. How did she…?

'You know…I was looking for Marchlumples yesterday. I was on the seventh floor when I found a yellow one scratching at the wall opposite the tapestry of the dancing Trolls. Daddy told me the yellow ones are attracted to dark magic. Perhaps you should look there for your research' Luna said.

And with that she wondered away. Harry watched her go, too startled to reply. His research had been written in a language of his own creation. Not even Hermione knew what it said. Harry let out a chuckle and shook his head. This was Luna Lovegood he was talking about, why was he surprised? He picked up his quill and started writing. The seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of the dancing Trolls. Could Riddle have been so confident in himself that he would hide one of his horcruxes in the school itself?

OOO

'And what might our little…'

'Harrykins be doing today?'

He paused in his search to regard the twins. Harry had begged off studying with his friends to investigate the seventh floor corridor Luna had spoken of. Dusk had decided to remain with the group, remembering with a shudder what happened the last time he accompanied Harry on an adventure. The dancing Troll tapestry was easy to find, but so far the corridor hadn't given up its secrets.

'I should be asking you two the same question' he replied, arching an eyebrow.

Fred sniggered and ruffled the younger boy's hair.

'Aww…aren't you just the cutest!' George simpered playfully.

Batting the red head's hands away in amusement Harry sorted his hair back into its ribbon.

'I suppose if you two must know, I was told that this corridor held a secret, and I wished to see if that was true'.

At the mention of a secret, the twin's interest was peeked.

'Ooh! Can we help?' they chorused.

Harry considered this carefully. It wouldn't be right to subject his friends, and future consorts, to possible dark magic. On the other hand, having these two help would increase his chance of finding out if a horcruxe was actually here.

'I could use the help, thank you' he eventually agreed.

The pair cheered and immediately went into detective mode. Harry chuckled as he watched them. He should really introduce them to the Sherlock Holmes series, they would probably enjoy it.

An hour later, and he was starting to give up hope. He trusted Luna, he really did, but if this corridor did have a secret, it wasn't showing it.

'Harry, who told you there was a secret here?' Fred asked in exasperation.

The younger boy sighed.

'A friend of mine. My apologies for getting your hopes up'.

George crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. They'd tried everything. Hidden switches, fake bricks, disguised keyholes. They'd even snuck a peek at the map while Harry's back was turned, but still nothing. Pushing himself away from the wall he started to pace. How else would one discover a secret? And what kind of secret was it? A passageway? A hidden room? A teacher's room? The curiosity was eating at him. He and Fred knew all the secrets of the castle. At least, they wanted to know all the secrets. What did this corridor hold? He wanted a secret. He needed to know this secret. Where was this…

The trio watched in amazement as a door appeared at George's third pace. As the twins shared a look, Harry warily stepped forward and cracked the door open, taking a quick peek inside. It looked very much like a junk room, or perhaps a room where everything not in use was kept.

'What were you thinking about George?' he asked.

'Well…I just wanted to know the secret' the red head replied, he and his twin poking their heads in the door.

'Hey wait a minute. How can you tell us apart? Every time you address one of us you pick the right twin' Fred suddenly asked.

'Hey that's right! I thought it was just luck' George said.

'Easy enough. George is the action taker, the one who would rather do than spend time thinking about it. Fred prefers to sit back and take a moment to consider the consequences, then act with those thoughts in mind' Harry replied absently.

The twins shared an amazed look. Sure they've had people tell them apart before, but never in that much detail.

'Oh and Fred has a cluster of freckles just under his right eye, whereas George has a slight triangle of freckles at the left corner of his mouth' Harry continued, running his hands around the door frame.

Wait, what?

The two peered at each other. They could have sworn even their freckles were identical. How did they miss that?!

Harry paid them little mind as he examined the door. He ushered the protesting twins back and closed the closed it, waiting to see what it did. It stayed for a moment, then glowed faintly and vanished. Humming to himself Harry stepped in front of the wall and asked for the room to reappear. Nothing happened. He thought about what George did.

'Pacing' he spoke out loud.

As the twins looked on in confusion, Harry started pacing back and forth. He asked again for the room to come back. It wasn't until he'd walked past the wall three times that the door eventually reappeared. He pushed it open and looked inside.

'So…you gotta go past the room three times…' Fred started.

'And wish, or ask for it to appear' George finished.

'It seems so' Harry concluded.

They were silent for a moment. Then Fred slapped George's back with a cheer.

'I bet even the marauders didn't even know about this room! Brilliant my handsome, action taking brother!'

George grinned and gave a bow.

'But of course my brother of intellect. I am quite handsome aren't I?'

'Very handsome. Of course nothing can beat _my_ godly stature!' Fred boasted, puffing out his chest.

'Brains and beauty. How will I ever survive in your shadow?!' George sighed dramatically.

Fred waved his hand over his face, mockingly fanning himself.

'You are too kind'.

Harry rolled his eyes and smirked at their antics.

'If you two are done, perhaps you would like to explore with me?' he called.

The two snapped to attention and followed him into the room. Once inside they wandered off to admire the junk. Harry let them go, confident they wouldn't get into too much trouble. He wondered why such a room was hidden, and where he could get information about it. The room seemed to grant his wish, as a book appeared in front of him. Carefully Harry took it.

OOO

'He really is quite cute isn't he?'

'Not to mention he can tell us apart. I can count the amount of people who can on one hand'.

'Yeah, and two of them are Bill and Charlie'.

'Pity our little pig headed brother can't see just how special Harry is'.

'I know, Harry doesn't seem to make many friends, but when he does I get the feeling it's a lifelong friendship'.

'If Ronnykins just got his head out his arse he'd be able to see that'.

'As well, no use bothering over spilt pumpkin juice. Ron's a lost cause, he sees the world as black and white'.

'Ginny's not much better. Pretty sure she was writing Mrs Ginny Potter when we tried to sneak a peek'.

'I don't think she's Harry's type. I love her and all, but she really can't waste her time daydreaming'.

'Who do you think Harry's preference is? I mean I know he likes the lovely Miss Granger, but does that mean he's off limits for us?'

'I guess we'll just have to see. At least we can stay his friends'.

'Yeah. Ooh look! That's quite a piece of sparkle isn't it?'

'Oh…you're right. It's almost like it's calling to us'.

'Doesn't that feel a bit weird to you?'

'I'm sure it's fine. It was probably left by someone after a ball or something'.

'It is nice. I'm not sure though, something feels off'.

'Oh don't be a wimp! Here look it's perfectly harmless'.

'FRED WAIT…!'

OOO

'The room of requirement?'

Harry flicked through the pages, and as he read he began to realise just what a find this room was.

'_**The room of requirement, also known as the come and go room, is a secret room within Hogwarts castle, that only appears when a person is in great need of it. It can transform itself into whatever room a witch or wizard needs. It can also summon items when asked, although there are some limitations, such as food. These items, when summoned, cannot leave the room, as it was the magic of the room that brought them.**_

_**The room is located on the seventh floor in the left corridor of the Hogwarts castle and has a hidden entrance opposite the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet. The way to open the room is to walk past it three times thinking about what you need, and the door will appear.'**_

Summon items when asked? Harry tested the room's ability by asking for a book from the library, and immediately it appeared. This could be very useful, not just for himself but his friends as well. Harry placed the books on a nearby table and looked round. Would he really find a horcruxe in here?

There was a sudden crash and Harry sighed and went to find the twins. He should have known. They were good people and very loyal to their family and friends, but they could get into such trouble.

He turned the corner, a comment about keeping their hands clean on his lips, to find them surrounded by a sickly blackish green aura. In Fred's hand was a silver diadem, and George was grasping his brother's arm, as if trying to prevent the other twin from putting it on. Both twins had fallen to the floor, causing the crash, and looked like they were in terrible pain.

Harry rushed over, realising the item was causing the pain, and grabbed it from the red head's hand. He recognised at once that the diadem held another piece of Riddle's soul. There was no time however to extract any information from this piece, and so Harry concentrated on his magic, quickly smothering the darkness and draining the life from it. He stumbled back, collapsing near a pile of old trunks, the diadem slipping from his fingers. Panting Harry pulled himself together and hauled himself back up to check on the twins. Fred's hand was a blackened mess, and George was whimpering and clutching his head. Other than that, they appeared fine.

'Fred, George, are you ok?!' Harry asked, quickly summoning some vials of pain relief and a salve from his shrunken trunk. He drained one and handed the others over.

'Urg! What happened?!' George groaned, gratefully taking the vial and draining it, trusting the younger boy to know it would help.

Harry, realising Fred was still out of it, held the second vial up to the red head's mouth and encouraged him to drink.

'That is what I want to know. Although I can take a guess' he answered.

As Fred started to come to, Harry slathered the burn salve over his hand, gently reaching out with his magic to ensure there was no lingering darkness on his friend. The red head looked at him, then his eyes widened.

'Harry…what…what did you do? I…the diadem…it was calling to me. I picked it up and all of a sudden everything went weird. I could hear someone laughing and…telling me to put it on. I tried to but…'

'I realised something was wrong and tried to stop him' George interjected.

'I saw you running towards us…and you grabbed it…then there was all this grey magic around you…' Fred continued.

George rubbed his back while Harry finished with the salve.

'Harry, what did you do?' he asked.

The younger boy sighed, taking out some bandages and wrapping Fred's hand. He knew he shouldn't have accepted their help, and now he had gotten them hurt.

'I am sorry George, Fred. I was looking for a dark item belonging to Voldemort. That's why I wanted to discover the secret of the corridor'.

'V…Voldemort…!' Fred stammered, eyes wide with fear.

'That was…that was Voldemort's magic in that thing?!' George breathed.

Harry nodded.

'I had obtained an item earlier in the year with the same dark magic as that diadem. I was able to use my own magic to smother theirs' he continued.

'But…how? What was with the grey magic?' George asked.

Harry took a breath. He supposed they had to know eventually.

'You recall your jokes that I had to be a Dark Lord with all my knowledge?'

The two nodded, then it clicked.

'Harry…! You don't mean you really are a Dark Lord?!' Fred breathed.

'Not in the way you think. I am not out to kill the innocent, nor do I assume myself to be better than anyone else. I learned very early on that certain traits of the wizarding world were classed as bad. Such as talking to snakes for example. I decided that if the magical world wanted to see me as a dark wizard, then I would not disappoint them. As you may already know, there are some in the school who already look at me as if I am dark' Harry replied.

'So…you're not a bad person?' George asked.

Harry smiled.

'Do I seem like a bad person to you? I am at Hogwarts to learn, and to make friends, just as you are. When I graduate my intentions are to address some of the laws of the magical world, and see what I can do to change them'.

'Such as?' Fred asked.

'Such as allowing Werewolves to be able to support themselves. From what I've been reading, that law has resulted in more attacks than there were before the law was put in place. If a Werewolf cannot find a job, then they cannot buy the wolfsbane, nor can they afford safe houses, and thus when the full moon arrives, they are more likely to attack others. I may be young, and it may sound like an idle dream, but my goal is to allow the occupants of the wizarding world to be equals' Harry replied.

The twins looked confused.

'But that sounds like something the headmaster would want to fight for. Why would people call you a Dark Lord for doing something good?' George asked.

'Simply put George, my methods will be different. I will not put myself on a pedestal and preach to others, I will take action. I will put myself at the front of the battle and fight with all my magic for the rights of others. If there are people who like to kill for pleasure, such as Voldemort and his deatheaters, then I will deal with them. Giving second chances is one thing, but to continue to give second chances when these people have no desire to change, is something I will not allow' Harry said firmly.

'Now then, there has been enough talking. Both of you need to go to the hospital wing to ensure you are alright. I will not have my friends hurt because of my own mistakes' he then said.

He and George helped Fred to stand, and they made their way out of the room. As it closed up behind them, George turned to Harry.

'Your mistakes?'

'Your help was invaluable, but I was hunting for dark items and I deliberately accepted your help, knowing that there was a chance we would uncover one. My magic is grey, and it has proven that it is capable of overcoming dark magic. Your own magic is light, it wouldn't have held up. I am sorry'.

Harry looked away as guilt crept up his chest, the implications sinking in. He could have killed them through his own foolish desire to obtain a horcruxe. They were not to blame for picking up the diadem. He was thrown from his thoughts with a sudden but gentle slap to his head. He glanced over at the grinning red head.

'We get in trouble all the time Harry' George scolded.

'Don't blame yourself for our curiosity' Fred continued quietly.

'So, does this mean Voldemort's, not dead?' George then asked nervously.

'No, he is not. These soul pieces have kept him alive, even through the killing curse. If I'm going to kill him properly, I need to hunt all of them down' Harry replied.

The twins fell silent as they thought over this. This was something that should be told to the adults, but if Harry was keeping quiet about it then he must have his reasons. They weren't fools, they knew that if Harry hadn't been there, hadn't had grey magic, that they probably would have died from touching that diadem. Perhaps not immediately, but eventually Voldemort's magic would have overcome them. They owed their lives to the younger boy, and they weren't about to spill his secrets.

'We'll support you any way we can Harry. We might not be able to do much, but we'll do what we can if you need us' George said.

'We owe you our lives' Fred added.

Harry gave them a soft smile.

'You don't owe me anything. And I have a feeling if I say no to your offer of help, you'd do it anyway. Thank you, it is appreciated'.

'You're welcome, Dark Lord Harry' they chorused.

OOO

'I wonder what's going on over there?' Hermione thought out loud.

The two had risen early and decided to take a walk round the school until breakfast. They came upon what appeared to be an argument between the Gryffindor and Slytherin quidditch team.

'Flint! This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!'

'Plenty of room for all of us Wood'.

'But I booked the pitch!'

'But _I _have a specially signed note from professor Snape. We gotta train our new seeker'.

'Looks like Draco made the Slytherin team' Hermione remarked as they watched the Gryffindor's reactions.

'Indeed. Though from those flashy new brooms, he didn't make it through talent' Harry replied.

'At least we didn't buy our way onto the team' Fred remarked.

'We got through on talent alone' George followed.

Draco's smirk faded at the twins words. He sneered at them.

'At least I can afford to buy the latest broom! Perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms too. Cleansweep fives, I expect a museum would bid for them'.

'There is not much point in buying a new broom if you can't use it well' Harry remarked.

The entire snake team turned to him.

'Who asked you scarhead?! Taking your pet for a walk?!' Draco sneered.

Harry arched an eyebrow as the blonde's team members sniggered.

'Looks like you need glasses Draco. Harry doesn't have a scar on his head, nor does he have a pet. Unless you mean Dusk' Hermione said.

Draco glared at her

'No-one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood!'

The reaction was instantaneous. Flint had to put himself in front of Draco to prevent him being attacked by Fred and George. The Gryffindor chasers were shrieking out 'how dare you!' and 'wait till I get my wand on you!' The Slytherins just stood wearing smug grins and laughing at the reactions. Harry glanced at Hermione. She was trying, and failing not to cry. Eyes narrowed Harry looked back at the snakes.

'Clearly Draco, you don't realise the power the non magical people have'.

The blonde scoffed.

'Power! What power does filthy muggles have?!'

'Try a device with enough destructive force to wipe out Diagon Alley in a single blast' Harry replied calmly.

That drew a silence from the group. Draco sneered at Harry.

'You're bluffing! They're just mudbloods!'

'What reason would I have to joke Draco? These devices are called bombs. They are large metal capsules filled with a special explosive powder. These capsules are dropped from great heights onto towns and cities and a spark ignites the powder, killing everything within a few miles radius. Non magical people used them in the wars. In fact, the war involving Grindelwald was fought using these bombs'.

He smirked as the Slytherins tried to work out if he was telling the truth.

'Of course, if you don't believe me about bombs, then you might believe me about guns. They have the ability to fire small versions of these capsules at speeds of over a hundred miles per hour. Should one of these capsules, known as bullets, hit you, it would be a coin toss whether you live or die. They can shatter any shield you can cast, and depending on how hard they hit you, they can easily travel right through you'.

'That's a lie!' Draco cried nervously.

Harry shook his head.

'No that is certainly not a lie. But that is only a small taste of what non magical people can do. They have achieved incredible things that magical people have yet to discover. A way to light a home without candles or lumos charms for one. And while you think your broom is the best, it cannot lift a hundred or so people into the air and fly them across seas, like an aeroplane'.

Harry glanced back at Hermione. She was smiling, her tears long gone. Returning her smile Harry looked back to Draco.

'Then there are people like Hermione's parents. They are dentists, a special type of healer that deals primarily with teeth. They would have you sit on a special chair, then tilt the chair's back to make you feel as though you are falling head first to the ground. Once done, they prise open your mouth and use a slightly pointed piece of metal to press down on each of your teeth. If they find one that has something wrong with it, they will use a spiral piece of metal with a sharp end called a drill. This drill will be spun at high speeds and they will carve into your tooth and take out the bad part. Once that is done they will then fill in the hole with a soft metal and heat it to make it hard. Of course, the drill is rather painful, so to counter this, they will use a thin, hollow piece of plastic and attach an extremely sharp hollow needle at the end. This needle will be inserted into your gum line and a special numbing fluid will be passed through the hollow part and under your skin. This will allow them to use the drill without you feeling the pain'.

He could see he was getting to them. The team were starting to look somewhat nauseous.

'Then of course there are the teeth that are rotten right through, and need to come out. To do this, they may inject this numbing fluid into two or perhaps even three parts of your mouth. Then they will use another piece of metal to grasp a hold of the tooth and start twisting and pulling it until it comes out. It causes a lot of blood, and a nurse will put a thin tube of plastic into your mouth while the dentist is working and suck out any excess liquid. It wouldn't do for you to choke on your own bodily fluids'.

Some members were now holding their stomachs, looking quite green in the face. Draco was one of them.

'They also have ways to make sure your teeth grow in straight. They use a line of metal pieces, similar in appearance to train tracks, and attach this to your teeth using special glue. These are called braces, I've been told they are somewhat uncomfortable. They range in size from very small, hardly noticeable braces, to large bulky braces that make it hard for you to speak. They need special cleaning with a jet of water to ensure no pieces of food get caught in between the metal pieces'.

Harry gave a thoughtful look to Marcus Flint.

'Probably best you don't meet Hermione's parents Marcus. They would want to take a good look at your teeth'.

He had them. Groaning and dry heaving the Slytherin team stumbled back into the school. Harry felt arms slide round his sides and tilted his head to glance at his friend. Hermione had her head buried into his shoulder, trying hard to stop herself laughing.

'Everything ok Hermione?'

Snorting she playfully swiped his head.

'You took a few simple facts and drew them out to make my parents sound like torturers!'

'My apologies. However for most children, going to the dentist is a torture' Harry said with a smirk.

She lost her fight and thumped her head back onto his shoulder, giggling like a madwoman.

'Uh...Harry'.

He turned to the rather green faced Gryffindor team.

Dentists don't really do that, do they?' Oliver asked.

'Ask Hermione' Harry replied with a smirk.

Most of the team groaned at that.

'Tell me there aren't many dentists!' Fred exclaimed.

Harry shrugged.

'Oh, not much. A couple of million'.

Hermione's knees buckles at their faces. While she got herself under control, Harry thought about the issue the lions, and for that matter the badgers and eagles, had. The snakes had an unfair advantage with their new brooms. It was time to change that.

OOO

'Harry! Harry wait up!'

He turned to find the Gryffindor team, running to catch up to him.

'Is there something wrong?'

As an answer, all of them thrust out their hands, and the new brooms they were holding. Harry raised an eyebrow.

'New brooms, the latest model?'

'The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws got new brooms as well' George said.

Harry gave them a smirk.

'Well that will certainly stop the Slytherins having an unfair advantage'.

He clocked Oliver giving him a thoughtful look.

'Harry, isn't it strange how just yesterday you came upon us fighting over the Slytherin's new brooms, and now we have our own?'

Harry tilted his head.

'Yes, I suppose that is strange. Well, I wish you luck in the upcoming game'.

He was pulled back as he made to walk away.

'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' Katie gushed.

'I could kiss you!' Angelina squealed.

'_Could _kiss him?!' Fred exclaimed.

'We'll go one better than that!' George followed.

They grabbed Harry and planted large sloppy kisses on his cheeks. Laughing the girls pulled them away and did the same. Oliver was fighting a loosing battle, but eventually he squeezed his way in and gave away one of his own kisses. Laughing Harry pulled himself away from their advances.

'You are welcome, though if that is your reaction then I'd rather the other teams didn't know about my gift. I suppose the Slytherin team were disappointed?'

'The three head of houses decided we should all keep it a secret until the big game' Oliver explained.

'For once we're all in agreement' George sniggered.

'I can't wait to see the snake's faces!' Fred laughed.

OOO

The reaction of the Slytherin team was quite amusing. Harry smirked as Draco, who had prior to the match been boasting about winning the quidditch cup due to his new broom, turned pale when the Gryffindor seeker zoomed out on the same model. As the game progressed it was clear that Harry's words were correct. Draco had very little talent when it came to his position and spent more time hovering in one spot looking for the snitch while the other seeker was darting here and there. Half an hour into the match and the snitch had been caught by the lions, signalling the end of the game, and the beginning of a record of winning streaks by the Gryffindors.

All in all, Harry thought as he watched the proud lions head to their common room to celebrate, it had been a very satisfactory day.

OOO

'Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!'

'Two galleons says he gets beaten if he demonstrates' Neville muttered.

'I'd rather not put you out of two galleons' Harry replied with a smirk.

His friend's laugh was drowned out by the crowds.

'Now, professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works' Lockhart said with a beaming smile.

The group rolled their eyes when several girls sighed dreamily at the man's words. Hermione made a face.

'That could have been me doing that alongside them!' she whispered in disgust.

'You don't need to worry Hermione. None of us here have any Wrackspurts in our heads' Luna said.

The three gave her a questioning look, so she explained.

'They're invisible creatures. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. The only way to see them is to wear spectrespecs. It feels like a lot of people here have an infestation of them'.

Hermione didn't really believe that Luna's creatures existed, but the idea that the little blonde was insulting the other female's intelligence made her giggle. Not that she had anything against the female population of Hogwarts, but them drooling over Lockhart was pathetic. She ignored the little voice in her head that pointed out that she would have been the same if it were not for Harry.

'Let me introduce my assistant professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!' Lockhart announced.

'I take back my bet. He's a goner. Snape looks ready to murder him!' Neville said.

Harry smirked as he watched the dark man follow Lockhart up onto the platform. Professor Snape looked for all the world like he wanted to blast the man through the walls and into the great lake. This ought to be quite entertaining.

'Hello kiddies!'

'Care to place a wager on who will triumph in this little duel?'

The group turned to the red head twins.

'A fool's bet' Harry replied.

The two grinned.

'Not so. We have a lot of females betting on Lockhart to win, while the males are taking Snape's side'.

'No thanks guys. If the money's all coming from girls then I'd rather do the honourable thing and leave well alone. It's not right to take money from girls' Neville replied.

His response was met by laughs.

'Oh honourable Lord Longbottom!'

'We are humbled by your generosity!'

Neville blushed slightly as the twins bowed to him before making their way to other students.

'Looks like they're starting' Luna pointed out.

Lockhart and professor Snape turned to face each other and bowed. At least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas professor Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

'As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast out first spell. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course' Lockhart explained.

'I wouldn't bet on that' Hermione murmured, eyeing professor Snape.

'One…two…three…'

'EXPELLIARMUS!'

There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet. He flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down it to sprawl on the floor. Draco and his group of followers started cheering. Harry joined in by clapping.

'Always have to be different don't you Harry?' Neville laughed, adding his own claps into the mix.

Luna decided to follow on. Hermione rolled her eyes and joined in, a faint smile of amusement on her lips. Fred and George glanced at each other, grinned, and started cheering wildly. Professor Snape looked at them, a split second of bewilderment on his face before it was hidden. They hushed when Lockhart unsteadily got to his feet. The man's hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

'Well, there you have it!'

He tottered back onto the platform.

'That was a disarming spell. As you see, I've lost my wand, ah, thank you Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…'

Professor Snape was looking murderous. Lockhart seemed to have noticed because he gave a small nervous cough and continued.

'…Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you would like to help me…'

Harry watched as they moved through the crowds, matching off people. Neville gave them a smile as he was paired with Justin Finch-Fletchley and wandered off with the other boy. Luna also moved away with her partner. Professor Snape sneered as he reached Harry.

'Time to split up the dream team, I think. Miss Granger, you can partner with Miss Bulstrode. Mr Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter'.

Draco strutted over, smirking. Behind him walked a large, strong looking Slytherin girl with a heavy jutted out jaw. Hermione gave Harry a nervous smile as she joined her partner. The girl gave Hermione a cold look, but otherwise didn't react.

'Face your partners! And bow!' Lockhart called.

Harry turned to Draco and nodded slightly. The blonde sneered but did the same.

'Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent. Only to disarm them, we don't want any accidents!' Lockhart shouted.

'One…two…three…'

Draco had already started on two, but Harry clocked the movement and swung himself to one side. The spell landed harmlessly against the nearby wall.

'Pathetic Potter! You're suppose to be fighting me, not running away!' Draco sneered.

Righting himself Harry waited for the blonde to continue. He didn't bother casting a spell, he wanted to try another method. Draco, when he realised the other boy wasn't attacking, laughed loudly.

'Potter's a coward! He's just standing there!'

He turned back to Harry with a cruel smirk, and started casting multiple spells. However they were of poor strength and aimed badly, so Harry had no trouble avoiding them. Draco was getting annoyed.

'Fight me Potter! Or are you scared?!'

Harry ducked as a spell, a borderline dark spell, whizzed over his head. As the blonde recovered his energy, Harry made his move. With lightning speed he pounced at the blonde, striking his wand hand and sweeping his leg out to catch Draco behind the knees. The blonde dropped like a stone, his wand clattering to the ground. Calmly Harry picked it up, signalling that his opponent was disarmed. Clearly this pureblood felt it was beneath him to exercise. He arched an eyebrow when both professor Snape and Lockhart came over.

'Marvellous Harry! But you were suppose to disarm your opponent' Lockhart said.

Harry smirked slightly and held Draco's wand up.

'Exactly professor'.

Severus sneered, but he couldn't help but be a bit impressed by the boy's attack. A tiny bit. He glanced at Draco, who was groaning pathetically on the ground. Sighing he hauled the blonde up and checked him over. The wimp was fine.

'I meant with a spell Harry!' Lockhart scolded lightly.

He looked at the rest of the students. Many had decided to abandon disarming spells and moved on to others. Hermione had effectively blocked her opponents attack, and stood in a defensive stance as Millicent glared at her, knuckles cracking.

'Dear dear. Up you get Macmillan, careful there Miss Fawcett, pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second. Boot…'

He was starting to get flustered.

'I think I'd better teach you how to _block _unfriendly spells. Let's have a volunteer pair. Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?'

'A bad idea professor Lockhart. Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox' professor Snape said.

Neville frowned at the man. You make one mistake at the beginning of first year and it gets held over your head for the rest of your school life.

'How about Malfoy and Potter?' Snape continued with a twisted smile.

'Excellent idea!' Lockhart replied.

He gestured Harry and the now recovered Draco into the middle of the hall. The crowd backed away to give them room.

'Now Harry, when Draco points his wand at you, you do this'.

He raised his own wand, attempting a complicated sort of wiggling action and dropped it. Professor Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up.

'Woops, my wand is a little over excited'.

Harry took on a bored stance while he waited for the man to finish his useless explanation. Draco mistook it for fear and smirked. Clearly Potter didn't know the first thing about duelling, so he was fighting muggle style instead. Pathetic. He overlooked the fact that said muggle style of fighting had him on his knees in one hit.

'Scared Potter?'

Harry just raised an eyebrow.

'Just do what I did Harry' Lockhart said, cuffing Harry merrily on the shoulder.

'You mean drop my wand?' Harry asked casually, but the man wasn't listening.

'Three…two…one…go!'

Draco quickly raised his wand and bellowed 'SERPENSORTIA!'

The end of his wand exploded and a long black Indian cobra shot out of it, falling heavily onto the floor between them. It raised itself up, ready to strike. Some of the crowds backed off, most were looking at Draco like he was mad. Dusk was longer than this snake _and_ Harry could talk to them. Professor Snape groaned under his breath. Merlin helped him he loved his godson, but the boy was thicker than a plank of wood at times.

'Allow me to get rid of it Harry!' shouted Lockhart.

Harry gave the man a bewildered look. Who needed to get rid of it, it wasn't doing anything?! The man, apparently mistaking his still form as being frozen in fear, brandished his wand at the cobra and there was a loud bang. The snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards the nearest human, which happened to be Justin, and raised itself again, fangs exposed, ready to strike.

'_Stop please!' _Harry called.

It paused and turned to him.

'_Stop! I have been thrown around like a mouse and you want me to stop?!'_

'_I apologise for your abuse, and I hope you have not been seriously hurt. But the boy you are about to strike is not the cause of you being here' _Harry explained.

The cobra took another look at the pale faced Justin, before moving towards Harry.

'_I am unharmed. Very well. Tell me who is responsible!' _it demanded.

'_You were summoned here by the boy opposite me. It was a foolish thing for him to do to such a fine specimen as yourself. He will be punished by the one in charge of his care' _Harry said.

The snake peered at him.

'_And the other?'_

'_If you inject your poison into him you will be hunted. My familiar Dusk will ensure he is sufficiently terrified as punishment. That I will promise' _Harry replied.

It seemed satisfied, and slithered up Harry's offered arm. Now that he had a chance to examine it, he noticed that it wasn't actually black. As the light of the candles hit its scales, they shimmered a deep rustic red with patches of gold, a vivid pattern on its hood. He also, by its voice, deducted that it was female.

'_So you are a speaker? I have not met a speaker before. What might you be called?. And who is this Dusk?' _she asked.

'_I am called Harry. Dusk is a __Red-bellied black snake, he has been my partner for a few years now' _Harry replied.

The cobra perked up at the knowledge of another snake.

'_Might I meet this Dusk? I have been without a mate for some time now'._

Harry gave a soft chuckle. It would appear as though Dusk was about to get a consort of his own.

'_Of course you can meet him. Might I know what you are called?'_

'_In my homeland, my kind were known as the serpents of the dawn'_ she replied.

'_Then, if I may, might I refer to you as Dawn?' _Harry asked.

She tilted her head.

'_Yes…Yes I like it'._

'_Well then Dawn, allow me to escort you to my dorm room, which is hopefully where Dusk is? That is, after we have finished here' _Harry offered.

She hissed a little laugh and nodded. Chuckling Harry turned to Justin.

'My apologies for that Justin. She was angry at being thrown around and didn't realise you were not to blame'.

'Yeah, sure Harry. No problem. Scared me for a bit' the taller boy replied in relief.

'_There appears to be a lot of humans here. Is this a nest?' _Dawn asked.

'_No, this is a place where humans come to learn. A school. I must ask that you not attack anyone here. Dusk is well known so if you remain with him while you get settled then he will help you avoid trouble' _Harry replied.

She nodded, then glanced at Justin.

'_Will you tell that human that I am sorry'._

Harry looked back at Justin.

'She asked me to tell you she is sorry for nearly attacking you'.

The taller boy gave a small smile and nodded. Harry then turned to Draco. The blonde hadn't moved since he'd launched the spell. He looked dazed. Harry chuckled slightly and addressed the Slytherin.

'I'm not entirely sure what you were planning Draco, but I thank you for bringing Dawn here. She has already expressed her desire to be with Dusk'.

Draco snapped out his stupor and scowled. That wasn't supposed to happen! The snake was supposed to attack Potter and send him to the hospital wing. Not once had he thought that his ingenious plan might fail. Not once had he considered that Harry would probably just tell the snake not to attack him. Growling to himself Draco stormed out the hall. First he gets yelled at by his father over getting rid of that stupid Elf, _then _they find out that they can't get another Elf, meaning he has to do _chores_, and now he gets his butt handed to him in a duel by a half blood! He'd teach that Potter! Eventually.

Lockhart also hadn't moved since he'd launched the snake into the air. He too hadn't thought about the consequences, and now there were two venomous snakes roaming the school. He didn't sign up for this!

Professor Snape just rolled his eyes and followed his godson, hoping to enlighten the boy about using his head. Although, he didn't hold up much hope that Draco would get the message.

The crowds slowly dispersed, realising that the duelling club was over for the day, and probably for good. Harry headed over to introduce Dawn to his friends, then all of them headed up to find Dusk and introduce him to his possible new mate.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry was disturbed from his work by Dobby appearing.

'Dobby has most excellent news for master Harry!'

Harry had tried to get the little Elf to drop the master, but eventually he decided that if it made Dobby happy, then he wasn't going to protest. He made a motion for the Elf to continue.

'Dobby has found a bad item near the Riddle home. Surrounded by dark magic and traps. Dobby could break some but Dobby wasn't able to take away all the dark magic'.

Harry perked up and smiled at the little Elf.

'Well done Dobby, this is good news. We may not be able to get at the item, but we know it's there. If you could keep an eye on it while I'm at school. We should be able to retrieve it during the summer'.

Dobby beamed at the praise and nodded.

'Dobby be keeping an eye on it. Dobby also went to Potter home. Master Harry has three more House Elves there. They has been keeping the manor clean'.

House Elves? Harry hadn't given a thought to having his own family Elves. But it did make sense, since his family was an old one.

'What are their names Dobby? And how can I call them?' he asked.

'They be Tinker, Tailor and Mipsy. Master Harry just needs to call them by name and they will come' Dobby answered.

'Thank you Dobby. Tinker. Tailor. Mipsy'.

There came a trio of pops and a pair of older looking Elves appeared, followed by a younger one. They were dressed in proper uniforms with the Potter family crest sewn over the heart. They immediately bowed to Harry.

'Tinker be waiting so long for the young master to call' the older male spoke.

'We's be keeping Potter Manor and its grounds clean' the younger male announced.

'Mipsy be very happy to see young master! Mipsy hasn't seen since young master was a tiny baby!' the female squealed happily.

Harry couldn't help but smile at them. He had a flash, nothing more than a split second, of seeing a little Elf with her little uniform dress on, cooing over him.

'Thank you for coming. I hope you don't mind that I had Dobby join the team?'

'Not at all' Tinker replied, giving a smile to Dobby.

'Thank you for keeping Potter Manor in good condition. If I may ask, could you tell me a bit about it? I'm afraid I don't remember much before my parents were killed' Harry asked.

Mipsy went a bit teary eyed but the three nodded. They spent a while telling Harry all about the manor, what rooms it had, how big the grounds were, where it was located and how to enter it. As they spoke, Harry was formulating his own plans. There were more than enough rooms for his consorts and for various guests. The grounds sounded large enough for Fluffy, the local forest meant Dusk, Dawn and Hedwig had a place to hunt. And he couldn't wait to see the library and the potion lab. They were able to tell him more about his parents, that his mother's favourite colour was sky blue, that his father, for all his macho attitude, was in tears when he was introduced to his son. He also heard about a godfather, Sirius Black. Harry had heard of the name, the man was in prison for betraying the Potter family to Voldemort.

He also got to hear a bit more about the Elves themselves. Tinker and Mipsy were married, and Tailor was their son. Tinker was in charge of cooking, and also acted as a kind of butler during formal occasions, Mipsy was the maid, and had a good grasp of first aid magic. Tailor tended the ground, making sure the garden was tidy and seeing to the greenhouse. Dobby, they had decided, would help with cleaning and become a second butler when Tinker was busy.

When they finished, Harry told them of his plans for the future. The trio looked happy that Potter Manor would have people living there again, and wasn't put off by the idea of a now six foot Red-bellied black snake, a four foot Indian cobra and a massive three headed dog taking up residence on the grounds. Harry explained that at the moment he was living with the Dursleys. But now that he had been told of the manor, he wanted to move in as soon as he could. It was decided that after he turned fifteen he would pack up and move to his family home. And, hopefully, a few of his consorts would be making the journey with him.

OOO

'Cheating again Mr Potter? Ten points from Ravenclaw!'

This was starting to get annoying. Harry held his tongue as the man vanished his perfect potion, fighting not to roll his eyes as professor Snape sneered at him.

'Do it again, Mr Potter'.

Hermione gave him a sympathetic look as he set his cauldron back up and gathered ingredients. He rolled his eyes at her and she gave him an amused smile. Harry smiled back. It was frustrating, but he wasn't about to complain. Not when poor Neville was getting twice as much abuse. He clocked the tiny scrap of parchment coming his way and glanced at it.

'_**Are we still on for this evening?'**_

Ever since Neville had told them of his disastrous first potions class, they'd been working with him to increase his knowledge. And of course Luna was welcome to join when she started school. They'd also noticed that Neville was having problems with his wand, due to the fact that it used to belong to his father. They had mentioned to him about the wand choosing the wizard, and that he should speak to his grandmother about acquiring his own wand. He wrote away to her that same evening, and she grudgingly agreed to take him to get his own wand in the upcoming weekend. It had taken some time to build Neville's confidence, but once he realised his new wand worked perfectly for him, he felt better about casting spells, and eventually got to a good potion making standard with his friend's help. Of course he still got nervous around professor Snape, which no-one could blame him for.

Harry picked up the note and nodded to Hermione, slipping it into his pocket. At least he tried to.

'Passing notes Mr Potter?'

Severus had tried everything he could to get the brat riled up. He pushed any respect he had for the boy to the furthest depths of his mind, his grudge against Potter senior taking over. Taking points didn't work, insulting his father did nothing, and he hadn't been able to pin the boy for anything detention worthy. Until now.

'And what, pray tell, do you have on for this evening? Planning on sneaking out after curfew?'

'Actually sir, myself and a few students were getting together in order to study' Harry replied calmly.

The potions professor sneered. He wasn't about to fall for that. The brat may be in Ravenclaw, get good marks and know how to defend himself, but he was every bit as arrogant and self centred as his father. He spent a brief moment wondering if he should really be blaming the boy for his father, but the thought was quickly pushed away.

'Well, you will have to miss this session. You will be spending detention with professor Lockhart. Seven o'clock'.

The flamboyant man was driving him crazy with his boasting. He'd even tried to tell Severus how to make potions! Clearly the disastrous display at the duelling club hadn't taught the idiot a lesson. Quite frankly sending the Potter brat to the man would be a worse punishment than even Filch could come up with.

Harry merely arched an eyebrow. He gave a glance to Hermione, who signalled that she would still help Neville out. She didn't look happy at professor Snape's attempts to get Harry into trouble. Then again, Harry wasn't too happy about being forced to spend time with Lockhart either.

Severus smirked as the brat went back to work. That would teach him not to be a show off

OOO

'Ah, here's the scallywag! Come in Harry, come in!'

Sighing Harry entered the vain man's domain. Pictures and portraits of him were everywhere, smiling away with those bright white teeth. A large pile of pictures, some signed, lay on his desk. Harry had a feeling he was going to hate this detention. He wished he was able to bring Dusk or Dawn with him.

'You can address the envelopes! This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her. Huge fan of mine' Lockhart beamed.

Harry sat and pulled the envelopes to him. He tuned out the man's rambling, not even bothering to come up with a half hearted response. The man didn't seem to notice. As the minutes past Harry's mind started to wander. He had still to look into the Chamber of Secrets, and check if the Basilisk was still alive. He'd had a bit of good news via the Goblins. They had checked each of their vaults for horcruxes, and struck gold at the Lestrange family vault. The horcruxe, a cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff, was moved into Harry's vault to await him. The Goblins had tried to destroy it, but all their efforts failed. To quench their frustration, they fined the Lestrange family a very large sum of money for keeping a dark item within Gringotts. Come the summer Harry would be able to take out the dark magic from both the cup and the item Dobby found. It meant that there was only one more horcruxe to find.

'You're deep in thought there Harry. Musing on my words?'

Harry blinked and glanced at the man. Hard to muse when he hadn't heard a single word the man said.

'I suppose you could say that' he replied wearily.

The man looked over his shoulder to the envelope he was addressing.

'Chamber of Secrets? Basilisk? You're coming up with quite a little adventure there'.

Frowning Harry glanced at the envelope. It would appear that he had been writing what he was thinking, rather than the address.

'I tussled with a Basilisk myself. Gave the old thing a good whop to the tail and left it scampering away in fright' Lockhart boasted.

Harry arched an eyebrow in amusement.

'Is that so? How did you deal with its deadly gaze?'

The man faltered a bit, but recovered quickly.

'Trusty blindfold Harry. Relied on my other keen senses. So agile the beast couldn't get a hit on me'.

'Hmm…I suppose you're going to tell me you know about this Chamber of Secrets as well?' Harry asked.

'Why of course my boy! Where did you think I fought the Basilisk?' Lockhart replied with a beaming smile.

And if I made it up? Harry thought to himself with a smirk.

'So where might this chamber be? Since you got rid of the Basilisk, there shouldn't be any harm in visiting it?'

He succeeded in getting the man flustered. Eventually Lockhart managed a wry grin.

'Now Harry, I see where you're taking this. Let me say though that attempting to walk the steps of a great man like myself at this stage in your career just isn't sensible. Makes you look a tag bigheaded. There may well come a time when, like me, you'll be able to live off your achievements. I daresay when you get older you'll have to keep a stack of your own pictures handy. However I don't think you're quite there yet'.

Harry fought a laugh, covering it with a cough. It was a spectacular way for Lockhart to say he hadn't a clue where the Chamber of Secrets was. The man appeared to mistake his amusement for disappointment.

'Not to worry Harry. It's hard to live up to such a role model as myself. Great Scott, look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd have never believed it, the time's flown, hasn't it?'

Smirking to himself Harry stood and left the room. He could make a sport out of flustering the man, if the man wasn't so annoying.

OOO

'You're certain that it was this sink?'

'Positive Harry' the ghost replied.

Thanking her, Harry checked the sink carefully. On the tap he noticed a small snake carved into the metal.

'Are you going to kill it Harry?' Myrtle asked.

'I am not sure. If I can, I'd like to get its side of the story. It was following orders when it killed you, it could be that it has no real desire to murder' Harry replied.

He stepped back from the sink.

'_Ready?'_

'_I am' _Dawn replied.

'_I suppose I am'_ Dusk followed.

Harry smirked slightly and looked to the sink.

'_Open!'_

They watched as it sunk back and a portion of the wall gave way to reveal a long pipe.

'_Does this mean we have to jump?!'_ Dusk whined.

'_I cannot see Salazar Slytherin jumping down to his chamber. Stairs!'_ Harry replied.

Sure enough, a set of stairs began to spiral up from the pipe. Together they started to climb down.

'Harry. If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet' Myrtle offered with a cheeky grin.

'Thank you Myrtle, I shall keep that in mind' Harry replied, giving her a short bow.

Her giggling followed them as they reached the bottom. The animal bones gave evidence that the beast may still be alive.

'_Exactly what are you planning on doing?'_ Dusk asked.

'_What I have been doing for some time now. Playing it by instinct'_ Harry replied.

'_Does that work?' _Dawn asked.

'_So far. We'll just have to see how long my luck holds out' _Harry replied with a smirk.

Dusk let out a hissing laugh as they followed him down the tunnel. They came to a stop upon the sight of a large, a very large snake skin. A very large, rather recent looking skin.

'_It would appear the Basilisk is still alive' _Harry remarked.

Dusk had slithered up to the skin, flickering his tongue out to taste at the dead flesh.

'_She is female Harry. Many years old'' _he said.

'_She must be very wise' _Dawn followed.

'_Perhaps she was Salazar Slytherin's familiar'_ Harry presumed.

They continued further and came upon a vault like door, snakes decorating its edge. Harry spoke the command to open and they watched as the snakes slithered back with a click.

'_Remember to keep your head down Harry' _Dawn reminded.

'_And to allow us to speak to her first' _Dusk added.

Harry nodded and they entered the chamber, taking a moment to look carefully around.

'_This Salazar appears as vain as Lockhart!' _Dusk huffed, taking in the large statue of the man's face.

Harry was looking at the many tunnels branching off from the chamber. He couldn't hear anything to suggest there was a thirty foot, or larger, snake here. Perhaps she was hunting. Was there a way leading outside? If so, how did such a large snake escape notice?

'_Shall I call her, or will you?' _Dawn asked her mate.

'_You call her. She may be more inclined to not attack if she were being addressed by a fellow female' _Dusk replied.

She nodded and moved over to the statue of Salazar.

'_Queen of snakes, I beg an audience!'_

For a moment it appeared as though no-one was home. Then the mouth of the statue opened and hissing could be heard from within its depths.

'_Who calls for an audience?'_

Harry quickly ducked his head as the Basilisk emerged from her nest.

'_I am known as Dawn. I bring my mate Dusk, and my bonded human with me. I beg you to close your death gaze so he may humbly speak with you' _Dawn replied, his head also bowed in respect.

'_Your bonded?'_

The Basilisk peered at the human her subject brought.

'_He speaks the language of our kind' _Dusk added.

Hissing with curiosity she slithered over.

'_Speak human, and I may close off my gaze'._

'_Majestic Basilisk, I am Harry. My apologies for disturbing you' _Harry spoke respectfully.

'_Why have you come here? Do you intend on using me for your own purposes?'_

'_No, my fair queen. I merely desired to look upon you, and to know that you still live amidst these walls. I have no wish to use or fight you'_ Harry replied.

Despite herself, she was impressed. This human's aura was very much like her own bonded. However she remembered what happened with the last human that reminded her of Salazar. Did she dare offer the same trust to this one? There were a few moments of silence as the great snake assessed his words.

'_You may call me by the name my bonded gave me. Saresh. I have closed off my gaze'_ she finally replied.

It was a clear invitation for him to look at her. Taking the risk of her lying, Harry raised his eyes. Since he didn't drop dead, he was able to take in her grandness. She looked quite the bit bigger than the thirty feet he assumed she would be. If Harry had to guess, he'd say she was closer to fifty.

'_I am honoured, Saresh. You are indeed magnificent. A true queen of the serpents'._

The Basilisk basked in the praise. She, like Dusk and Dawn, was quickly becoming charmed to Harry's ways.

'_Your bonded speaks well. You have both chosen wisely'._

The smaller snakes dipped their head in thanks, returning to Harry's side.

'_How is it that you found my lair?' _Saresh then asked.

'_I uncovered a diary belonging to one Tom Marvolo Riddle. It held the secret of your chamber' _Harry replied.

The Basilisk let out a hiss of anger.

'_That __**boy **__used me! Claiming to follow the mindset of my bonded! Having me slaughter in his name! He is not fit to carry the name of Salazar Slytherin! You are not related, are you?'_

'_Indeed I am not. In fact, my goal is to destroy him' _Harry replied.

Saresh looked pleased at that.

'_That, is an aim I will happily pursue with you. Tell me Harry, is there a place I can go beyond this school?'_

'_You wish to leave your chamber?' _Harry asked curiously.

'_The forest used to hold much prey, but it has thinned over the years. I am finding it harder each year to hunt my fill. The Centaurs and the Unicorns are not prey, and that leaves little left for me' _Saresh replied.

Harry took a moment to think about it. Tinker had said that Potter Manor lay within many hundreds of acres of ground, which included a large forest, perfectly suited for a Basilisk. There was also, if he remembered the Elf's words, an abandoned cave deep within the forest. It used to belong to a group of giants, but they departed not long after the manor was built, and so far nothing else had claimed it.

'_I know of a place. It lies close to my home. A cave situated deep within a large forest. From what I've been told, it is teeming with life. There are no Unicorns or Centaurs there, and apart from my home, there are no humans living nearby' _he suggested.

Saresh let out a hiss of agreement.

'_It sounds ideal for me. Are there many humans living with you?'_

'_At the moment only my four House Elves reside there. However I plan on moving there in a few years, and I hope to bring consorts with me. At the moment I have eight people listed to come with me, but that may increase. There is also room for guests, and I hope to bring a Cerberus that was released into the forbidden forest, along with Dusk, Dawn, and my snowy owl Hedwig'_ Harry replied.

Saresh started laughing.

'_I like you Harry! I give my word to leave your consorts and your friends alone'._

She gave a look to Dusk.

'_Tell me, do you also wish to have consorts?'_

Dawn caught on at once, and glanced at her mate as if to say 'well, do you?'

'_I…? I once had a nest of mates. I had not thought to start another. But I do have Dawn' _Dusk replied, conscious of his mate's look.

The Basilisk let out a hiss of amusement and lowered herself to his height, starting a conversation. Harry found himself moving away when it began to sound like a private conversation, which, surprisingly, Dawn seemed happy to allow. It would seem Dusk may be adding another consort to his nest, and with the approval of his first no less. How that would work with the size difference he didn't want to know. Chuckling Harry stepped over to Slytherin's statue, peering into the open mouth. There wasn't much of a nest, more an assortment of branches and stones. He wondered if perhaps Saresh was lonely. As he looked back at the trio, he thought about how to get Saresh to Potter Manor. Perhaps the Elves could help.

'_Harry'._

He turned to the Basilisk.

'_Tell me where your home is located, and I can make the journey' _Saresh said.

'_Will that not be dangerous for you? If someone should see you?' _Harry asked.

'_I am a master of stealth' _Saresh replied confidently.

Chuckling Harry agreed and gave her the location, pointing out landmarks the Elves had told him of. Eagerly she decided to leave at once, and bidding her new friends goodbye, she slithered down one of the tunnels. Well that visit went very well, Harry thought. He made a note to mention Saresh's arrival to the Elves. It wouldn't do for her to accidentally scare them to death. As they headed back, Harry had just one thing to say.

'_A Basilisk for a consort Dusk?'_

If a snake could blush, this one would be bright red. Dawn was curled up with laughter.

'_Be quiet Harry!'_

OOO

Their good mood was shattered as they headed back through the tunnel. Professor Lockhart was waiting for them. The man looked decidedly uncomfortable standing amongst the bones of Saresh's last meal. He'd followed Harry and saw him opening the sink. Deciding to play hero, he'd waited a bit, then followed the boy down, ready to spring into action and take the glory for anything Harry uncovered. His plans fell apart when he stepped onto a rat skull. He was deciding whether or not to flee for his life or wait, when Harry and those blasted snakes appeared.

'Ah, Harry. Saw you opening the sink and thought I should come down and offer my services. Find anything interesting?'

Harry shared an amused look with his familiars. The man looked ready to wet himself, and he'd only seen the bones. Deciding to take a risk to see how the man would react, Harry replied truthfully.

'That's kind of you professor. As a matter of fact I did stumble across a Basilisk. I'd say she was about fifty feet long. We had an interesting conversation and then it was decided that she should leave the school and look for a new home'.

As predicted, Lockhart turned as pale as a ghost and his legs almost gave out. But he steadied himself on the wall, making a face as it stained his clothes, and managed a weak grin. The snakes were quivering with laughter.

'Ah…yes well… You've have quite the little adventure today haven't you Harry? You say the Basilisk is, gone?'

'Quite gone professor' Harry replied.

He was unprepared for the man's weak grin to turn menacing.

'So you say you braved your way down here, using that snake tongue of yours, and drove the Basilisk away?' Lockhart clarified.

'Yes professor' Harry replied curiously.

Lockhart hummed to himself, his stance becoming more and more confident.

'Good. Well Harry, I can see we've got a problem. We can't have a lad like yourself going around talking to Basilisks, can we? It would make you look dark. I'm starting to believe all that business with You-Know-Who has done something to you'.

'Done something professor?' Harry asked.

This wasn't the bumbling, lying man who taught defence. The snakes let out a warning hiss but the man continued.

'Yes quite so Harry. But you're in luck. I happen to be good at memory charms, I'll have you sorted out in a jiffy' Lockhart replied cheerfully.

The pieces clicked in Harry's head.

'I see. So all those great feats you did, were taken from other magical people. You got them to tell you what happened, then wiped their memories and took the credit. Tell me professor, did you do anything in your books?'

The man frowned slightly.

'Quite a clever lad you are. Such a pity the world will remember you as the boy who tried to take over the world and was struck down as I tried to stop you'.

He whipped out his wand and yelled 'OBLIVIATE!' The spell launched itself at Harry. But Harry had already gathered his own magic, and launched a counter attack. It hit the spell and bounced it back to Lockhart, sending him crashing against the wall. Dusk went to bite the man but Harry stopped him.

'_He tried to kill you Harry! We cannot allow him to live!'_

'_There are many ways to punish a person' _Harry replied calmly.

'_You have a plan?' _Dawn asked.

'_Sort of' _Harry replied.

Wrapping the man in polka dot pink and yellow and sending him to India seemed good. Perhaps he could allow Lockhart to believe the world would end if he changed the colour of his clothes.

Grumbling to himself, Dusk slithered back to Harry's side. The three watching as Lockhart stumbled to his feet.

'Oh my…where am I?'

He looked round, then turned to Harry. Harry noted that in his confusion, the man's eyes were impossibly wide and innocent looking.

'Rather a nasty looking place. Do you live here?'

'No professor, we're in a tunnel under the school' Harry replied.

'Am I a professor? Goodness! I expect I was hopeless, was I?'

Harry gave a little chuckle. That was the first piece of truth the man had told since arriving at Hogwarts.

'You were a little, but that is ok, you're no longer a professor. You attempted a memory charm and it backfired. I don't suppose you remember anything at all?'

The man tilted his head, looking deep in thought. Harry was struck by how innocent he looked. Well that idea just went out the window. The man wouldn't last on his own for a day, let alone the rest of his life. Plus, Harry thought, it wouldn't be fair to expose the people in India to him. Who knows what they'd do to the flamboyant man. Another thought crept into his head and he wasn't sure whether to go with it or pretend he'd never thought of it.

'Nope. Nothing' Lockhart finally answered.

Harry sighed, mind made up.

'Your name is Gilderoy Lockhart…and you belong to me'.

The man was silent for a moment, then he shuffled over and lowered himself to his knees in front of Harry, ignoring the bones scattered around him. He looked up at Harry with his puppy eyes. Harry was surprised at the submissive stance, but he couldn't help but think it looked good on the man. Dusk caught on at once.

'_Harry?!'_

'_Dusk it would not be right to leave him alone like this. He can stay in Marge's room, since she never comes to the Dursleys anymore. I promise, he'll behave' _Harry said.

Although the first thing he was going to do was sell the man's vibrant clothes and buy new less eye watering ones. And get rid of those blasted pictures.

'Dobby!'

There was a little pop and the Elf appeared. He bowed slightly with a big smile.

'Dobby is here. What does master Harry be wanting of Dobby?'

Harry motioned to Lockhart, who was watching the Elf with curious eyes.

'I'd like you to bring…Gilderoy, and his things, to the Dursleys and get him settled in Marge's room. And if you could possibly redecorate the room, all those flowers are rather sickening. Perhaps in blues and creams. When I come back I'll see to furniture, for the moment he'll have to make do with Marge's things. Also if you could make sure he stays well fed and healthy. He had an accident with a memory spell and he may be confused with some things. Perhaps if you could help answer any of his questions'.

He would also have to work on his glamour spells in order to take the man to Diagon Alley for clothes. Dobby nodded and held out his hand to Lockhart. The man looked at it, then back at Harry.

'Go with Dobby. He's a House Elf that works for me, very well I might add. He'll put you in a room in the house where I live and make sure you get something to eat'.

Nodding Lock…Gilderoy took hold of Dobby's hand and they popped away. Harry had to start thinking of that man as Gilderoy from now on. He turned back to his familiars.

'_It's time we got back before people start to wonder where we are'._

'_Are you really going to have that man as your consort?' _Dawn asked.

He fell silent. Did he want the man for a consort? Yesterday he would have said no. Half an hour ago he would have said no. But it was very hard to ignore the innocent eyes gazing back at him.

'_I don't know. But for the time being he is part of the family. Whether that changes in a few years I suppose is up to his attitude. Should, however, he revert back to his old self, I will have no problems following the old plan and sending him to India wearing only polka dot clothing' _he eventually replied.

Dusk let out a laugh, secretly hoping the man would do just that. With the matter settled they headed back to the bathroom. Thankfully they hadn't been gone long enough to arouse question.

OOO

The next morning at breakfast there was a kerfuffle over the man's disappearance.

'I overheard Justin from Hufflepuff saying he went to Lockhart's office to ask about something and all the man's things had vanished' Neville said.

'So he just left, just like that?' Hermione asked curiously.

'Apparently so. No-one saw him leave though' her friend replied.

Luna hummed to herself.

'How very strange. Perhaps he lost his memory and was popped away by the Elves'.

Harry gave her a look over his drink. How did that girl figure out these things?

They fell quiet as the headmaster stood.

'Professor Lockhart has had to leave quite unexpectedly due to family circumstances. As there are only a couple of weeks of term left, it had been decided that I shall teach defence against the dark arts classes until we can bring in a new professor. Now I will let you return to your meal'.

Harry turned his attention back to his food with a smirk. Family circumstances indeed.


End file.
